Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

 

(Photo by  Pablo García Saldaña  on  Unsplash ) This post may have no positive impact on anyone's life or it may be exactly what some soul needs to hear. It will likely cause some to attack me personally. I will leave the outcome of this effort where it belongs - in God's hands.  It is an invitation to take a look into our own souls. Where have we been and where are we headed?  Just when I thought this world had exhausted the ways it can devise to offend the God who made us in His image and likeness,  I glance at social media or school curriculum and shudder in utter shock and dismay. Too many have abandoned common sense and reason. They have no idea why God created them. Some are unable (or unwilling) to define the difference between a male or female. Others argue that there are more than two sexes. Still more believe that they can transition from one sex to another as they choose. Black has become white. Truth has been replaced with lies. The common good ...

(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...

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. Cardinal Francis Arinze   “The lay faithful as parishioners are the people who are called upon to witness to Christ at the level of the family, the place of work or recreation, in trade and commerce, in politics and government, and in other social areas of daily life. From them, people in society see what the parish is or should be.”  (From  The Evangelizing Parish ) St. John Marie Vianney “If a priest is determined not to lose his soul as soon as any disorder arises in his parish, he must trample underfoot all human considerations as well as the fear of contempt and hatred of his people. He must not allow anything to bar his way in the discharge of duty, even were he certain of being murdered on coming down from the pulpit.” (From  The Curé d’Ars  by François Trochu   Saint Philip Neri  “If a ma...

 

 

[The following article, penned by a dear friend and faithful Catholic, was first published more than four and a half years ago in the December 2017 issue of The Patriot (Volume 8, Issue 2). I am re-posting it here with permission and at his request. This is one man's attempt to wake us up. It needs to be heard and heeded.] JESUS’ WARNING TO US I, Jesus, speak to you, the people of the United States, individually and as a nation. I have witnessed civil conflict after civil conflict, war after war, Mortal Sin after Mortal Sin. I have witnessed the breaking of each of the Ten Commandments. More and more people are denying Me, are indifferent to Me. I have been profaned. My Mother Mary has been ridiculed and the object of jokes. Moral corruption on all levels of the political, social and religious strata is ubiquitous. People are scandalized by all of this. I have held my anger back because I love each and every one of you and I want you to join Me in Heaven. But time is getting...

  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.     Antony The Great “Antony said, ‘Just as fish die if they stay too long out of water, so the monks who loiter outside their prayer chambers or pass their time with men of the world lose the intensity of their inner peace. So, like a fish going toward the sea, we must hurry to reach our prayer chamber. If we delay outside, we will lose our interior watchfulness’.” (From The Wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers )   Father Peter Hannah, O.P. "[Pope Benedict XVI reminds us]: Truth should be spoken with charity; but charity demands that one is actually speaking truth. Charity, Benedict wrote,   ‘is of fundamental importance in human relations’, but ‘without truth, charity degenerates to sentimentality…more or less   interchangeable with a pool of good feelings, helpful for social cohesion but of little re...