Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

 

  (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) The immediate impetus for this post can be found in the writings of St. Gregory the Great (540–604), a Marian apparition, conflicting statements of two Catholic Cardinals, and zeal for the salvation of souls. Bear with m e, please, as I explain. The second reading in the Office of Readings for this past Sunday were selections from St. Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Guide which you can find here . (I recommend that you read and ponder it in its entirety). Let me, however,emphasize the following excerpts: “A spiritual guide should be silent when discretion requires and speak when words are of service. Otherwise, he may say what he should not or be silent when he should speak…Indiscreet speech may lead men into error and an imprudent silence may leave in error those who could have been taught… The name of prophet is sometimes given in the sacred writings to teachers who both declare the present to be fleeting and reveal what is to come. Th...

The late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen was a master of the written word.    The Archbishop would be horrified (but not surprised) to see not only how many who identify themselves as Catholics have remained silent about the evil of abortion but the large number of them who, while hiding behind the curtains of voting booths, have pulled the lever for candidates who passionately support the killing of infants within their mother's wombs.    Their family and friends may not know for whom they voted but God does.