Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Thank you Allison Gingras  (Reconciled To You) and Elizabeth Riordan ( Theology Is A Verb) for another opportunity to re-publish our favorite posts on Worth Revisiting . Stop for a visit now (and every Wednesday). The gifted hostesses and other writers who post each week will no doubt have much of value to offer you.. May you find the following post worth pondering...   Monday Musings - Come Join the Saints and Angels (Originally published 12/5/16) [We MUST listen to Blessed John Henry Newman.  We MUST conduct ourselves with the utmost reverence every time we enter a Catholic Church since our loving Lord is really and substantially present there. It is His House!   We MUST understand why we come to, who is really present at, and what is actually happening during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Our continued failure to address these issues  jeopardizes the salvation of lost and confused souls.] ...

"Encountering Christ in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is an invitation, for all people, to deepen their relationship with the Lord, and to grow in communion with his Church. In adoration, we grow in unity and friendship with Him—we learn to hear His voice, to know His will, and, most especially, to know and trust the power of His love. Everyone—no matter his circumstances—can kneel before the Eucharist, and encounter, in visible reality, the mystery of God’s transformative and powerful love. We all long for love, and in the gift of Eucharistic adoration, we can all experience the love of the Lord. No one needs to be a mystic to kneel before the Lord in adoration. Everyone begins the practice of prayer without knowing much about how to pray. But in silence, kneeling before Jesus, we learn how God speaks to us. We learn to hear his “still, small voice,” and we learn to speak to God from the depths of our own hearts. In silence, we learn to put aside the...

(Photo©Michael Seagriff)

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.   Brother Lawrence "It is not necessary for being with God to always at church. We make an oratory of our heart wherein to retire from time to time to converse with Him in meekness, humility, and love. Everyone is capable of such familiar conversation with God, some more, some less. He knows what we can do.Let us begin, then." (From The Practice of the Presence of God )

T hank you Allison Gingras and Elizabeth Reardon for hosting Worth Revisiting each week.  Please visit them regularly at Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb , respectively. May you find the following contribution worthy of your time: Eucharistic Reflection – A Heart Consumed (Originally posted September 17, 2015) "When a preacher or catechist retains, in himself the warm life of the Precious Blood, when his heart is consumed with the fire that consumes the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, what life his words will have: they will burn, they will be living flames! And what effects the Eucharist will have, radiating throughout a class for instance, or through a hospital ward, or in a club, and so on, when the ones God has chosen to work there have nourished their zeal in Holy Communion, and have become Christ-bearers !" (From The Soul of The Apostolate by Jean Baptiste Chautard, OCSO)

"There are prayerful steps we can take, in the silence of Eucharistic adoration, to hear the Lord’s voice. We can begin by thanking God for His presence, and by asking Him to help us to know Him, and to love him. We can acknowledge our distractions, and ask the Lord to give us the gift of silence. And, through Scripture, or the mysteries of the rosary, through some other spiritual practice or reading, or through simple contemplation of God’s goodness, we can begin to hear the Lord’s voice. We can share our hearts with the Lord, and ask him to fill our minds, our imaginations, and our hearts with His presence. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons) God speaks to us when He is present before us in the Eucharist. We need only learn His language: we need only dare to kneel humbly before the Lord and, with trust in God, begin a dialogue of silence—intimate, powerful, and real." (From Pastoral Letter On Adoration of the Most Holy Eucharist by Bishop James Conle...