Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Do yourself an immense favor and take the time to view this video which originated on Creative Minority Report and the National Catholic Register :

  CHRIST:…Here upon the altar you will find not a relic, nor a monument to someone’s memory, but Me, alive as ever, all-powerful, all-loving, all-perfect.   All the treasures and wonders of this world – these things are nothing compared to what you find upon the altar. You will not be drawn to me by any curiosity or shallow virtue. Only a firm faith, a steady hope, and a burning love will draw you to Me and keep you loyal to Me.   Consider how great must be the tepidity and negligence of this world, since so many fail to take advantage of My gift of Holy Communion. It is sad to see how few are drawn to Me with tender affection and wordless gratitude. In this Sacrament I offer Myself, in Whom lie all human hopes and merits for salvation.   THINK:   I should never cease to express my sorrow for the neglect and coldness which is shown to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. How great must be His love for us, since He does not become disgus...

It is a privilege to once again join other Catholic bloggers at RAnn's Place for Sunday Snippets - a Catholic Carnival where we share posts from the previous week. Here are my posts: A Eucharistic Glance Into Today's Gospel A Christmas and Eucharistic Reflection That All of Us Would Come To Reverence And Love Our Eucharistic Lord as Father Mark Does! Will You Pray For Them Tonight?

Lift up our brave men and women in prayer!

The love of Father Mark for the Eucharist is once again reflected in the following prayer that he offered after Christmas Day Vespers and that he posted on his blog , Vultus Christi. THY GLORY SO HIDDEN, AND THY LOVE SO DESPISED Lord Jesus Christ , God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten of the Father before the daystar, and consubstantial with Him, born in the fullness of time of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I adore Thee, who art truly present here, and, out of my own poverty and weakness, I desire to make reparation for those who do not adore Thee in this wondrous Sacrament, and for those who deny the mystery of Thy real presence. I would make reparation as well for those who approach Thee without reverence, for those who touch, and handle, and receive Thy adorable Body with coldness, with indifference, and with little awareness of the immensity of Thy charity burning in this Most Holy Sacrament...

Thank You For Coming! When I entered this world, my Blessed Mother and her most chaste spouse, Joseph, welcomed Me with loving arms, eyes and hearts. A choir of heavenly angels surrounded and serenaded us! My heart leaped for joy when the humble shepherds came and paid Me homage. I smiled! We waited. But none of the religious, political or social leaders bothered to visit. They never thought to look for Me. I cried! Even today, centuries after my arrival, most of them rarely think of Me. I   cry! Then the foreign dignitaries came. They had left their country in search of the Truth, not knowing on their departure, exactly Where, What or Who that Truth was but certain they would find It.   They did - the Incarnate Truth wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger - and they were forever changed. I smiled! My parents and I had to flee to Egypt to thwart Herod’s plan to murder Me. He killed other I...

Some spiritual writers have described Mary as the first tabernacle since the Son of God resided in her womb. She took the newly and spiritually conceived Savior of the world to her aged cousin Elizabeth, who, after Mary and Joseph, is the first recorded Adorer of our Lord. Elizabeth was beside herself to be so blessed as to be in the presence of God.   How sad that so many of us today do not share that appreciation when we are in His Presence. Rather than leaping for joy as did John the Baptist in his mother’s womb, we walk by ignoring the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, acting as if He was not here among us.       To have such a great gift, to have a God so easily accessible and not to appreciate that Gift, is one of mankind’s greatest tragedies.   (Image source: catholicfire.blogspot.com )