Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers . Draw Near! (Originally posted on January 1, 2019) "...draw near to this great Mystery, to your Lord and Savior in the most Blessed Sacrament. Imitate the Saints who laid before the Sacramental Throne all their cares of body and soul, all their desires and petitions, all their hopes and fears. Each time they did so, they received help and grace in richest measure. By renewed fervor, show that you appreciate our Savior's excess of love! Show it by visiting Him frequently and keeping Him company in adoration, thanksgiving, love and petition. Say not that you have no time. Place your hand on your heart and answer truly: Can you not sacrifice one short quarter of an hour for your Lord and God? Suppose, however, you are really unable to do so; you can...

"How is it that we do not die of love in seeing that God Himself could do no more than shed His divine blood for us drop by drop? When as man He was preparing for death, He made Himself our food in order to give us life. God becomes food, bread for his creatures. Is this not enough to make us die of love?"                                                (St.Teresa of the Andes)

One question continues to echo through the centuries. "Is the Lord in our midst or not?" (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons) After fleeing the Egyptians, the Jews grumbled about the lack of bread, the absence of meat and about the shortage of water. In response to each of their complaints, God provided them with the material items they sought – none of which could permanently satiate their appetites.  Our Lord knew the Israelites would always be hungry or thirsty so long as they ignored His invitation to an intimate relationship with Him. The Israelites’ focus was always on themselves. They complained about God abandoning them and not providing for them.   This self-centeredness blinded them to recognizing the presence of their God in their midst as He daily provided for their basic needs. Despite the overwhelming evidence of His loving hand and presence among them, the Israelites questioned whether or not their God had abandoned them in the desert...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) Let's be honest. We need to take a closer look at how we treat the God we profess to love. Listen here.

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 . St. Francis de Sales "If the grace of God had caused me to perform any work of righteousness, or had wrought any good by my means, when the secrets of the hearts are manifested, God alone should know of my righteousness; and my unrighteousness, on the contrary, should be seen by every creature." (From Introduction to the Devout Life )

We thank Allison Gingras at  Reconciled To You  and Elizabeth Riordan at  Theology Is A Verb   for hosting Worth Revisiting each week. It is a privilege to share our work with them and their followers .                  Want a simple but fruitful exercise this Lent? How about chewing on one of these short but powerfully packed kernels of wisdom from St. Thomas Aquinas each day during Lent?  (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)     Our body must be subject to the soul.   Death, sickness and all defects of the body are due to lack of the body’s subjection to the soul. Fasting is mandatory and essential to spiritual growth.   Fasting is useful for removal and prevention of sin, and for raising the mind to spiritual things. Go to the foot of the cross.   Contemplate Him who suffered so much for me and Him Whom I should love. Christ i...

(Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) "By a beautiful paradox of Divine love, God makes His Cross the very means of our salvation and our life. We have slain Him; we have nailed Him there and crucified Him; but the Love in His eternal heart could not be extinguished. He willed to give us the very life we slew; to give us the very Food we destroyed; to nourish us with the very Bread we buried, and the very Blood we poured forth. He made our very crime into a happy fault; He turned a Crucifixion into a Redemption; a Consecration into a Communion; a death into Life Everlasting." Venerable Fulton Sheen