Monday Musings - Lift Up Your Gaze!

[What follows is just one of 150 thought-provoking quotations you will encounter in Pondering Tidbits of Truth, Volume 6.]

Venerable Bruno Lanteri 

"Do you find yourself turning inward, preoccupied by your anxieties and burdened by your failings? 'Instead of turning in on yourself, lift your gaze often with peace and love to God.' Often. With peace. With love. The less you focus on your failures and the more you gaze on the Lord with peace and love, the more your heart will lift, the stronger you will become, the more joy you will find. Tell Him that 'you want to be totally His' and, with boldness, tell Him that 'it is His to make you become better'! 

(From Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement - The Wisdom and Spiritual Power of Venerable Bruno Lanteri) 

PAUSE AND PONDER: Is my first inclination when troubled and challenged to turn to God and ask for His assistance? If not, why am I hesitant to do so? Do I believe God can change me? Have I ever asked Him to? 

*****

[This is what Catholic author, Janeen Zaio had to say about this book.

Like having a saint for a spiritual director.  - One of the luxuries of the Catholic life is having your own spiritual director to encourage and challenge you; however, with the shortage of priests, it’s just not possible for most Catholics. Reading the book Pondering Tidbits of Truth is like meeting with a spiritual director in the comfort of your home. And this spiritual director has the intelligence of Pope Benedict XVI, the fire of Venerable Fulton Sheen, the insight of Cardinal Sarah, the courage of Pope Leo XIII, and the wisdom of many more ancient saints and contemporary theologians.

In this powerful book, Michael Seagriff has collected 150 quotes from the some of the greatest Catholic minds. But it’s not just a book that makes us admire the lofty ideas of the saints. After each quote, Seagriff added questions to challenge readers so that we examine ourselves and strive to imitate the saints.

Pondering Tidbits of Truth is such an enjoyable read that I found myself smiling, nodding my head, and writing in the margin. It’s a book for people at all stages of the faith journey whether they’re devout or lukewarm, young or old. In fact, reading one tidbit each night would make a quick but worthwhile addition to family prayer time.

It encourages readers to think about the critical questions of life such as, “Why did God put me here right now?” and it also gives concrete ideas for incorporating holy practices throughout the day.

Seagriff challenges readers to have a relationship with God, especially the Holy Spirit, Who is so often overlooked. He also helps readers appreciate the precious gift of Our Lord’s Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. Most urgently, readers consider the consequences of not knowing, loving, and serving God.

It’s as if Seagriff read many of the greatest Catholic books and articles, highlighted the best parts, and served them up for us in an easily digestible way. I enthusiastically recommend that you savor this smorgasbord of wisdom and share it with others.”]

Monday Musings - What A Soul Must Do

 

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - August 5, 2021

 

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.

 

 

 

Venerable Bruno Lanteri

"At the offertory, when the gifts and the altar are prepared, ask for a heart that offers to God, in union with Christ's self-offering, the ‘living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God’ of your whole life with its joys and sorrows, its responsibilities and tasks - all that you are and all that you do."

(From Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement – The Wisdom and Spiritual Power of Venerable Bruno Lanteri)

 

Luisa Piccarreta

“Daily meditation on the Most Holy Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ produces priceless goods for those who practice it day after day. It fills us with love and gratitude and engenders real, precious repentance for one's sins - a repentance that is felt not out of fear of temporal or eternal punishments, but out of pure love for God.

It detaches us from earthly things and turns us away from sin, which cannot coexist with this holy meditation. It mortifies our passions without violence and through love; purifies the spirit; infuses knowledge and wisdom; arouses great longings for perfection; strengthens the soul in her sorrows; makes her generous in sacrifice; increases sanctifying grace day by day; and accelerates a perfect union with God. ‘Oh man’ - exclaims Saint Bonaventure - ‘do you want to keep growing from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace? Then meditate daily on the Passion of our Redeemer.’ The soul that meditates lovingly, daily, on the Passion of our adorable Redeemer, our hearts Highest Good, meditates, we should say, in the company of suffering Jesus. Jesus assists the soul, transports it, fills it with regret, penetrates it, illuminates it, inflames it, and often communicates to it the precious gift of tears - a gift that forms one of the eight beatitudes on this earth, since our Lord Jesus Christ said: ‘Blessed are they who mourn'."

(From The Hours of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ)

 

Father Jacques Philippe

"The real excellence of the Eucharist lies in the fact that God not only gives us His love but gives us the gift of loving in return. Through it, He empowers us to respond to His love little by little, to love just as we have been loved by Him. Here is a reminder of an essential property of love, ever expanding toward full reciprocity: to love someone is to give him or her the possibility of loving us back. The greatest gift we can give someone is the power of self-giving, to experience the happiness of giving ourselves through love, since ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35; cf Lk 6:34)."

 (From Fire and Light -Learning to Receive the Gift of God)

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - July 22, 2021

 

 

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.

 

 

Madeliene Delbrel, Servant of God

"Saving the world does not mean making it happy; it means showing the world the meaning of its suffering and giving it a joy that nothing can take away. If we must fight against the misery and misfortune which Christ took so seriously as to speak of judging us in the end solely by what we did for others in this regard, we must keep in mind that what is at stake is ultimately not solving these problems and constructing a second earthly paradise. Rather, what is at stake is eternal life."

(From We, the Ordinary People of the Streets)

 

Venerable Bruno Lanteri

“If you want peace in this life, you must, first of all, decide to accommodate yourself to circumstances and not demand that circumstances accommodate themselves to you. You must, secondly, strive to practice uniformity of your will with God’s. It is He who disposes everything, arranges everything, and permits all that takes place. We need only seek and follow the plan of His fatherly love for our lives, which is always to provide us opportunities for practicing different virtues, at times one, at times another, so that He will have something for which to reward us.”

(From Overcoming Spiritual Discouragement - The Wisdom and Spiritual Power of Venerable Bruno Lanteri)

 

Mother Mectilde of the Blessed Sacrament

"Never determine anything of yourself. You are no longer your own, you are Jesus Christ's. It is for Him to dispose and for you to acquiesce and His designs. Strive to be detached from everything, be tied or attached only to God's good pleasure. We must be very disinterested and allow God the freedom to do with us what will please Him."

(From The Breviary of Fire - Letters by Mother Mectilde of the Blessed Sacrament)