Monday Musings - From The Mouth of Babes

For more then 10 years, I was privileged to participate in a Prison Ministry program. We would conduct three day retreats in medium security prisons, encouraging each of the men who attended to turn to and accept the embrace of a loving, forgiving and merciful God. 

We discovered over the years that one of the tools God used to penetrate the hearts of these men were the anonymous simple, innocent notes written by elementary school age children. I was recently reviewing some of the files from years ago and knew immediately that I had to share this with you.

[In case you can not read the text, here it is typed: "Hi! Are you doing something nice for Lent? Well, if you are then choose something that you can give up until Easter. For instance, you can give up cookies and eat fruit. I'm going to give up vegtables. Have a nice Easter. - Jennifer]

May we never forget that each of us - everyone of us - are sinners who have been made in the image and likeness of God...

Pondering Tidbits of Truth - January 16, 2020

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.

Saint Louis de Blois
 

"No one at all can humbly read or think of the passion of our Lord…without reaping from this exercise fruit most useful for salvation; just as no one could touch flour or balm, even with the tips of his fingers, without having his fingers whitened with flour and perfumed with the odor of balm. Even if the image of Jesus crucified be only piously glanced at, the look will not have been in vain."

(From A Book of Spiritual Instruction) 

 

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen 

"The rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying that the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the rosary is beyond description.”

(From The World's First Love)

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich

"Every pious desire, every good thought, every charitable work inspired by the love of Jesus, contributes to the perfection of the whole body of the faithful. A person who does nothing more than lovingly pray to God for his brethren, participates in the great work of saving souls." 

(From The Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich: Book 2

Worth Revisiting - Eucharistic Reflection - He Loves Us Even When We Fail To Love Him

Thank you Elizabeth Riordan at Theology Is A Verb for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with you and your followers. 

 

Eucharistic Reflection-He Loves Us Even When We Fail To Love Him

(Originally posted on February 23, 2013)

Can this adorable Savior, Who has done so much to gain the hearts of men, refuse anything to those who themselves ask of Him a place in His Heart?

If Jesus Christ allows Himself to be given even to those who do not love Him, and would have Himself carried to dying persons who never condescended to visit Him in their lifetime, and who have been insensible both to the manifest marks of love which He gave them and to the cruel outrages He received in the adorable Eucharist, to persons who have perhaps themselves ill-treated Him, what will He not do for faithful servants who, sensibly touched at seeing their dear Lord so little loved, so rarely visited, so cruelly outraged, make Him atonement, from time to time, for all the insults He receive, and neglect nothing to repair so many offenses, by their frequent visits, their adorations, their homages, and chiefly their ardent love?

Is it not, then, plain that there is nothing more reasonable, more useful, than the practice of this devotion [to the Sacred Heart]? Can it be necessary to use any words in order to persuade Christians to practice it?

(From Devotion to The Sacred Heart by Father John Croiset, S.J.)

Eucharistic Reflection - The Eucharist Unites Us To Jesus Christ

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

"A saint used to say that we were God-bearers. It is really true because at the moment of receiving the Blessed Eucharist, and as long as the Sacred Species subsist, Jesus Christ is substantially present with His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in our body and our soul. 

We are thus tabernacles, living ciboria of Jesus Christ. What are You doing, O my Savior, during this quarter of an hour, when You deign to dwell in me; when You are in contact with my body and my soul? I cure you of your spiritual laziness, strive to draw you into My Heart; I set you on fire with flames of love for God and for your brethren. 

O mystery of condescension and of divine love! Give me O Jesus, an understanding and relish of it."

                                                     (St. John Marie Vianney from  The Eucharistic Meditations of the Cure D'Ars)

Monday Musings - May We Open Our Eyes And Ears

[God always sends prophets and teachers to safeguard His people. Unfortunately, over the centuries, man has far too often turned a deaf ear to the wisdom God has placed in the mouth of those He selected as His messengers. Robert Cardinal Sarah is one of His contemporary servants. Please God that we may open our eyes and ears to your faithful and courageous Cardinal.] 

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

"The sign of Satan is division. Today there are serious conflicts within the clergy. And the devil is partying. The devil loves to divide the Church. The prince of darkness wants first to sow opposition among us. He sets a terrible trap for us through the media amplification of the least important episcopal statements. Everyone is ordered to take sides, to choose his camp. But in the Church, there are no sides! There are no camps! Synods are not political assemblies. Is each Christian supposed to judge everything? Have an opinion about everything? This sometimes hysterical politicization of what ought to remain a calm debate among theologians who love the same God is the mark of the demon. He lures us into his own terrain. He leads us toward hatred, invective, manipulation and Machiavellian calculation. Must we give up denouncing error? Certainly not! But we must do so in a spirit that is Catholic, in other words, profoundly supernatural and benevolent...

He [Satan] loves to utilize confusion. Dominican Father Marie-Dominique Molinie declared: 'The devil's tactic is to propose to us what is 'reasonable'. Yes, he is the prince of lukewarmness, the king of compromise. His aim is to not make us fall into specific errors but, on the contrary, to leave us in vague uncertainty: because it is impossible to stake one's life on vague ideas and consequently, to become a saint in those circumstances'.

He [Satan] tries to make us believe that there is nothing serious about sin and that we can transgress God's law without worrying too much. Satan loves to muddle our correct perception of God in his relations with mankind. He deceives us and tranquilizers us so that the reign of sin can extend its night... 

The devil tries to tear the Church apart, first by attacking the priesthood. Satan intends to destroy priests and the teaching of doctrine.  He is horrified by the liturgy, the sacraments, and the apostolic succession. In trying to take out his hatred on consecrated persons he means to ridicule the Church. Priests frighten him because they are the ministers of mercy. He knows that he will be vanquished by mercy. He seeks to instill lukewarmness and doubt in priests. He seeks to win the hearts of some and to draw them to renounce chastity...

(From The Day Is Now Far Spent)