Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

As I noted in a prior post , there are at least 107 times in the New Testament that Jesus tells us ‘fear not,” or “do not fear,” or “do not be afraid.” Could He be any clearer? Everything that He allows to happen in our lives is for our eternal benefit. So why do we refuse to believe Him? When we look at fear only through our earthly, human eyes, despair rushes to our side. However, if we look at fear from God's perspective, we find peace and resignation to whatever befalls us. A recent column by Father Denis Lemieux of Madonna House published in the May-June 2020 issue of Restoration , entitled Do Not Be Afraid, is a must read for all souls during these challenging times. Father's post is the best I have read on this subject. It should be circulated far and wide. You can read his column here . Let us pray for such faith! If you agree with my assessment, please pass this post on. [If interested, you can find Monday Musings Part I here] (Photo by Aarón Blanco Tejedor on Unspl...

(Photo by Josh Applegate on Unsplash ) “My sisters, I regard the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as the most magnificent feast, for in it we eat the flesh of the Son of God and we drink His Blood, so that the guests’ souls are completely filled with Jesus Christ. Consider we are filled with His divinity and His humanity, with His holy soul and all His infinite perfections and by concomitance, with the Farther and the Holy Spirit. This is what is offered in this precious mystery, which being too common is neglected and being so excellent is still understood only by a few…”   (Venerable Catherine Mectilde de Bar from The Mystery of Incomprehensible Love )

[ One of my Lay Dominican sisters, Gloria Hunt, recently shared this quotation from C.S. Lewis. It is well worth pondering. ] (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. 'How are we to live in an atomic age?' I am tempted to reply: 'Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.' "In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had...