Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

(Photo©Michael Seagriff) It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Catholic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something that will touch your heart and stir your soul. Take a few minutes and visit! Here is what I shared: Guest Post - A Prophetic Warning! Are You The Center of Your Universe? Eucharistic Reflection - There Would Have Been No Need of Christ Coming to Earth If... No Better Place To Be! No Better Thing To Do! On The Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas "It's Worth Revisiting" Wednesday - Not this Time Buddy! Pondering Tidbits of Truth - January 29, 2015

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. Father Jean Nicholas Grou “God wishes-us to fear His justice, so that we may avoid sin, so that we may forsake it as soon as possible, so that we may ex­piate it by penance, so that we may never think we have expi­ated it sufficiently, and so that we may not lightly presume on the hope of pardon. But at the same time He wishes us to trust in Him, to hope for all things from His mercy, to return to Him through love rather than fear, and never to allow ourselves to become the prey of a terror that is without foundation and in­jurious to God, and that can have no other effect than to dis­courage and dishearten us. But how far are we to carry this trust in God? As far as His power and His goodness; as far as our own weakness and our own misery; that is to say, our trust is to be boundless.” (From The Spiritual Life-A Compreh...

Thanks to the generosity and encouragement of Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Riordan, an ever-expanding group of Catholic bloggers take the time each week to re-post their favorite articles on “It’s Worth Revisiting” Wednesday. Do yourself a favor- go there now (and every Wednesday) and let these authors bless and challenge you in Faith journey. During the rest of each week. visit Allison at   Reconciled To You and Elizabeth at Theology Is A Verb .  You will be pleased with what they share.  Here is what I am sharing this week: Not This Time Buddy (Originally posted 4/23/12) I am ashamed to admit how easily I fall prey to the “blues.” God has immensely blessed me in this life and I have no real reason for ever feeling down and discouraged.   But, of course, I am human and prone to such disorders. In reflecting (many times) on what might set me off on this non-productive path, I discovered a number of culprits, these being the ...

There is no better place to be and no better thing to do on this earth than to be on our knees adoring and worshiping our Loving Lord who humbles Himself to remain with us until the end of time. Thanks to Video Catechism and JD Trevors for sharing this video. Pass it along then go visit Him!

I recently began reading St. Thomas Aquinas by G.K. Chesterton. I highly recommend this book! Although I do not know if the following tale Chesterton shares about our Angelic Doctor is true, I just had to share it with you: "It was of him [St.Thomas Aquinas] that the tale was told, and would certainly have been told more widely among us if it had been told of a Puritan, that the Pope pointed to his gorgeous Papal Palace and said, "Peter can no longer say 'Silver and gold have I none' "; and the Spanish friar an­swered, "No, and neither can he now say, 'Rise and walk.' " St. Thomas Aquinas pray for us.

“If we were naturally good and naturally progressive, there would have been no need of Christ coming to earth to make men good. Those who are well have no need of a physician. If all were right with the world, God would have stayed In His Heaven. His Presence in the crib in Bethlehem is a witness not to our progress, but to our misery. Just as Christmas is a season for exchanging gifts with friends, so Our Lord came to this poor earth of ours to exchange gifts. He said to us, as only a good God could say: "You give Me your humanity and I will give you My divinity; you give Me your time and I will give you My eternity; you give Me your weary body and I will give you redemption; you give Me your broken heart and I will give you love; you give Me your nothingness and I will give you My All.” .                    (Venerable Fulton J. Sheen,  December 20, 1964 )

Although I have not yet had the privilege to physically meet the gifted writer whose work I am about to share with you, we are not strangers. Barbara Schoeneberger, M.A. has challenged and stirred my soul (and countless other souls) through her words and inspiring example. She has struggled for more than a decade with, among other crosses, physical limitations, surgeries and chronic pain. Once she understood "the purpose of her suffering", her life changed. Through sharing her life's experiences and spiritual journey, Barbara hopes her writings will " help others to make the most of the challenges God has sent them."     You would serve the welfare of your soul well if you made a point of visiting her frequently at  Suffering With Joy . Barbara has graciously consented to my sharing one of her most recent and timely posts - one that should be widely read and disseminated : A Prophetic Warning! by Barbara Schoeneberger Cleaning out a file ca...