Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

"The only way to experience freedom that lasts and grows more and more intense is to love more and more. St. Paul tells the Corinthians it is not he who places restrictions on them but their own closed hearts (2 Cor 6:12). That is to say the lack of freedom arises from not loving enough. Love brings freedom. The more pure and intense love is, the more expansive is freedom. A loving heart is never closed.  (Photo©Michael Seagriff) Such freedom can be acquired (unlike the freedom of omnipotence of which we sometimes dream), but that takes time. Moreover, it is a grace, a gift of God, a fruit of the Holy Spirit. But once we can truly love God with all our heart, love any man or woman, whoever he or she may be, and love ourselves - fully accept ourselves, that is - we then are truly free."  (Father Jacques Philippe from "Fire & Light - Learning To Receive The Gift of God")  

"May your principal motive in Holy Communion be to give yourself to Jesus, to give Him the freedom to do in you everything that will be according to His good pleasure, without your considering yourself or your interests about your own perfection. In your past life, you lived so much for yourself and you received Communion so often for yourself; henceforth live and receive Communion only for Jesus, for His joy, for His designs, and for His intentions.                                                                 Photo©Michael Seagriff Receive Communion for the sake of adhering to His intention and the desire He has to see you be all His, to see the reign of His love in you, ...

 

  Stirring Slumbering Souls - 250 Eucharistic Reflections Let’s be frank. We are all guilty of inattention, indifference and irreverence toward the God Who lives among us and wishes to live within us. To have the Son of God here with us and not to spend time with Him is the same as telling Him that we are not interested in getting to know or have an intimate relationship with Him and that He is not welcome in our minds, hearts or souls. Like the Gadarenes (Matthew 8:28-34), we are telling the Son of God we do not want Him in, or to interfere with, our lives. We are telling God we are not interested - to leave. May our loving and waiting Lord use the 250 quotations in this book to increase belief in, reverence for, devotion to and love of His Eucharistic Presence, touch lukewarm hearts, stir slumbering souls, and re-ignite the flame of love for Him that He placed in our hearts the second He breathed life into them. Listen t...

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 Jacques Philippe The Eucharist is the highest expression of Divine Charity, of God's love for His creations. Through it, God shows how much He wants to be with us forever, sharing His own life with us, living with us and in us. As Father   Jean-Claude Sagne said, ‘What makes the Eucharist the Sacrament of love is that Jesus here gives Himself in person, in the fullness of His presence. He gives all that He is, the entirety of His life. More than any word or action, it is Jesus Himself who comes to us and delivers Himself into our hands. The Eucharist is a giving without limit on Jesus’ part: ‘This is My body, given up for you.’ What we receive in the Eucharist is Jesus in the very act of giving His life for all mankind, the act in which He personally loves each of us with the greatest of loves: ‘Greater love has no...