Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

We need a reality check!   By any objective measure, most of us living in the U.S. are rich – materially rich beyond the experiences of the majority of the rest of the people who inhabit this planet. The median household income in this country, we are told, is just over $50,000.   Yet, we in America never seem to be satisfied with all that we do have and never tire of wanting more. Almost everything has become a “necessity”.       Today’s Gospel challenges us to be more realistic in our own self assessment. Despite our protestations and real hardships, we who live here in this nation are rich in a material sense.   In another sense, too many of us in this rich nation are still very poor – poor in spirit. We do not treasure and appreciate our loving Lord who nourishes us with His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity and Who remains physically here among us, waiting to be visited and consoled and, in return, to love and heal us. ...

  The heart of this simple sinful man aches today as our Church bides the Holy Father a prayerful farewell from the visible throne of Peter.   It is often said that we rarely appreciate those who are in our midst until they are no longer with us. No doubt, this will be the sentiment with respect to Benedict XVI, although he will remain prayerfully united with His beloved Church and his flock for as long as God wills it. His greatest sufferings and most magnificent sacrifices, I suspect, are yet to come.   He has taken the Ship of Peter as far as God has asked Him. He has reclaimed the Sacred Liturgy.   He has called his priests and Bishops to repentance, to faithfulness, and to selfless holy lives centered on a deep and unfailing love of the Eucharist and an insatiable zeal for the salvation of souls. Nothing, absolutely nothing else, is more important and necessary for our Church during these troubling times.   There is onl...

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. Pope Paul VI   "The most sacred task of theology is not the invention of new dogmatic formulas to replace old ones, but rather such a defense and explanation of the formulas adopted by the councils as may demonstrate that divine revelation is the source of the truths communicated through those expressions."   (From Encyclical Mysterium Fidei - Mystery of Faith )   Peter J. Leithart "If the Church of the martyrs has one thing to teach us, it is this: The Church is most politically potent not when she has a place in the halls of power, but when she shares the testimony of Jesus regardless of the consequences."   (From Witness Unto Death published in First Things January 2013)   Pope Benedict XVI   "How do I treat God’s Holy name? Do I stand in reverence before the mystery of the bu...

    With gratitude to Aggie Catholics for passing this on!    

It's Sunday and time to join an interesting group of Cathloic bloggers at RAnn's place  where you are sure to find something that will speak to your soul. Take a few minutes and visit!     Monday Musings. Fra Angelico's Visual Food For Contemplation Cold As Death Eucharistic Reflection - He Loves Us Even When We Fail To Love Him

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 pra...

Yesterday was abortion day at our local Planned Parenthood center. Three of us were outside praying for the staff, the parents and the unsuspecting children encased in their mothers’ wombs. It was bitterly cold. In fact, this is the first time over the past four years when I ever felt cold enough to wear a hooded sweatshirt and gloves. But it was not just the physical cold and wind that was bothersome. It was the pervasive coldness emanating from this place of death on this particular day. If you ever reverently touched the hand of a loved one or friend while praying farewell at their casket, you know the type of cold I am trying to describe. It seemed more women than normal were entering this evil place and fewer were willing to interact with the sidewalk counselor this day. The honking horn and raised middle finger were auditory and visible evidence of the pleasure the evil one takes in using his minions to belittle and demean the handful who engage in this spiritual war...