This was a particularly trying weekend for me. I responded poorly to several unwelcome intrusions with anger, anxiety, impatience and doubt. I forgot an essential truth: that whatever was, or would be happening in my life today or anytime in the future, is intended by God for the salvation of my soul. 

I had to trust Him. I had to surrender to God the concerns that were causing me so much angst and which I was unable to resolve on my own. I had to trust God to take care of them. I rushed to an online Adoration site I frequently visit where I could  gaze upon my waiting and loving Lord and seek His assistance. 

On my way there, I rediscovered Sanctify the Moment – The Now Moment written by Ven. Fulton J. Sheen.  It had been some time since I had first read this article. It immediately helped me to put my current challenges into proper perspective.
Hopefully, the good Archbishop's words will help you to do likewise:  

 *****

"[One] remedy for the ills that come to us from thinking about time is what might be called the sanctification of the moment—or the Now. Our Lord laid down the rule for us in these words: “Do not fret, then, over tomorrow; leave tomorrow to fret over its own needs; for today, today’s troubles are enough.”

(Matt. 6:34)

This means that each day has its own trials; we are not to borrow troubles from tomorrow, because that day, too, will have its cross. We are to leave the past to Divine Mercy and to trust the future, whatever its trials, to His Loving Providence.

Each minute of life has its peculiar duty—regardless of the appearance that minute may take. The Now-moment is the moment of salvation. Each complaint against it is a defeat; each act of resignation to it is a victory. The moment is always an indication to us of God’s will. The ways of pleasing Him are made clear to us in several ways: through His Commandments, by the events of His Incarnate Life in Jesus Christ Our Lord, in the Voice of His Mystical Body, the Church, in the duties of our state of life. And, in a more particular way, God’s will is manifested for us in the Now with all of its attendant circumstances, duties, and trials.

The present moment includes some things over which we have control, but it also carries with it difficulties we cannot avoid—such things as a business failure, a bad cold, rain on picnic days, an unwelcome visitor, a fallen cake, a buzzer that doesn’t work, a fly in the milk, and a boil on the nose the night of the dance. We do not always know why such things as sickness and setbacks happen to us, for our minds are far too puny to grasp God’s plan. Man is a little like a mouse in a piano, which cannot understand why it must be disturbed by someone playing Chopin and forcing it to move off the piano wires.

Those who love God do not protest, whatever He may ask of them, nor doubt His kindness when He sends them difficult hours. A sick man takes medicine without asking the physician to justify its bitter taste, because he trusts the doctor’s knowledge; so the soul which has sufficient faith accepts all the events of life as gifts from God, in the serene assurance that He knows best.

Nothing is more individually tailored to our spiritual needs than the Now-moment; for that reason it is an occasion of knowledge which can come to no one else. This moment is my school, my textbook, my lesson. Not even Our Lord disdained to learn from His specific Now; being God, He knew all, but there was still one kind of knowledge He could experience as a man. St. Paul describes it: “Son of God though He was, He learned obedience in the school of suffering.”

(Heb. 5:8)

… to accept the crosses of our state of life because they come from an all-loving God is to have taken the most important step in the reformation of the world, namely, the reformation of the self. Sanctity can be built out of patient endurance of the incessant grumbling of a husband—the almost intolerable nagging of a wife—the boss’s habit of smoking a pipe while he dictates—the noise the children make with their soup—the unexpected illness—the failure to find a husband—the inability to get rich. All these can become occasions of merit and be made into prayers if they are borne patiently for love of One Who bears so patiently with us, despite our shortcomings, our failures, and our sins.

…To accept the duty of this moment for God is to touch Eternity, to escape from time. This habit of embracing the Now and glorifying God through its demands is an act of the loving will. 

… We would all like to make our own crosses; but since Our Lord did not make His Own, neither do we make ours. We can take whatever He gives us, and we can make the supernatural best of it. The typist at her desk working on routine letters, the street cleaner with his broom, the farmer tilling the field with his horses, the doctor bending over a patient, the lawyer trying his case, the student with his books, the sick in their isolation and pain, the teacher drilling her pupils, the mother dressing the children—every such task, every such duty can be ennobled and spiritualized if it is done in God's name."

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

This post may have no positive impact on anyone's life or it may be exactly what some soul needs to hear. It will likely cause some to attack me personally. I will leave the outcome of this effort where it belongs - in God's hands. 

It is an invitation to take a look into our own souls. Where have we been and where are we headed? 

Just when I thought this world had exhausted the ways it can devise to offend the God who made us in His image and likeness,  I glance at social media or school curriculum and shudder in utter shock and dismay.

Too many have abandoned common sense and reason. They have no idea why God created them. Some are unable (or unwilling) to define the difference between a male or female. Others argue that there are more than two sexes. Still more believe that they can transition from one sex to another as they choose. Black has become white. Truth has been replaced with lies. The common good abandoned for personal gratification and self-pleasure. Good is defined as evil, and evil good. You have freedom of speech but only to the extent that your listener agrees with the substance of what you say. 

I could go on and on but you understand the point I am trying to make.

It is an act of love to remind our fellow human beings that there is a God and that someday we will all stand before His throne of Justice. Human deception and sinfulness will come to an end. Eternity will begin - one of unending bliss in the Presence of God Almighty; the other in unceasing torment. 

God has implanted in the hearts of every soul He has created, an innate awareness of natural law - what is right or wrong. So it is not judging a person whose conduct is objectively contrary to God's commandments if you point that out  - lovingly. Such fraternal correction is indeed an act of love - an obligation each of us has - no matter how difficult  it may be to share that truth and no matter how angry someone may become with us.

There was a time when no sane person would advocate killing someone simply because they rejected his or her sharing God's immutable Truth. Tragically, we are no longer at that place. God have mercy on us!

The reasons we have reached this troubled state in our society are varied and numerous. 

I want to focus on one: the deafening silence of Christians and Christian Churches - their failure to teach the Truth, live It, and defend It - their failure to fraternally correct family and loved ones who objectively live in ways contrary to God's law. 

Wake up! We who have been silent in the face of sin will be treated at the time of our particular  judgment in the same manner as the unrepentant sinner - an eternity of torture and separation from the God.  

To paraphrase, St. Jerome: Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of God. The following is one portion of Scripture that we better read and take to heart:

"Son of man, he said to me, take into your heart all my words that I speak to you; hear them well. Now go to the exiles, to your countrymen, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God! — whether they heed or resist…

Thus ,the word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me.

If I say to the wicked man, You shall surely die; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live: that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, on the other hand, you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life.

If a virtuous man turns away from virtue and does wrong when I place a stumbling block before him, he shall die. He shall die for his sin, and his virtuous deeds shall not be remembered; but I will hold you responsible for his death if you did not warn him. When, on the other hand, you have warned a virtuous man not to sin, and he has in fact not sinned, he shall surely live because of the warning, and you shall save your own life.” 

(Ezekiel 3:10-11, 3: 17- 21)

There is still time to turn the tide, to save our souls and of those we know and love. Regain your voice. Break your silence. Enter this spiritual battle. Share, live and defend God's Truth! 

​​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

In her book, Mary's Mantle - Consecration Prayer Journal, Christine Watkins asked her readers: "Where do you place your hope? In the things and people and dreams of this world? Or in God?"

She then shared the insight of St. Charles Borromeo:

“God wishes us not to rest upon anything but His infinite goodness; do not let us expect anything, hope anything, or desire anything but from Him, and let us put our trust and confidence in Him alone.”

Yes, St. Charles speaks the Truth - but one that is often difficult to live.
Watkins' questions and St. Charles' observations prompted my writing the following personal reflection - in hopes something in it will resonate with you and stir your soul:

Lord, You know well, how often I have allowed the demons of despair to destroy my spiritual and physical peace. You know Lord how I allowed this destroyer of souls to take me to a point where I begged You to end my physical life. How painful it is, even now years later, to recall those dark days, those hopeless days.

If I had really believed in You at that time, if I had placed my hope in Your hands, there would have been nothing I would fear, nothing that would have caused me to despair. It should not come as a surprise then that I have struggled immensely in my spiritual journey. Folly it is for me or any other sinful soul to put our trust in anyone or anything but You. Yet time after time, I did what I knew was futile and eternally destructive.

My twin sister’s death was a devastating loss, and, at the same time, a powerful and undeserved gift - a reminder of what You intend for all of us and what we can expect when we place our hope in You – eternal salvation. You know Lord how I begged for Jane’s return to Your loving and merciful embrace and how she fought (You and me) tooth and nail. She too was tormented by the demons of despair as she battled with cancer for so many years.
But prayer and hope in You never fails. In Your mercy, You answered my long-standing prayer that she not die without first reconciling with You and without receiving the Last Rites. You sent a priest to her bedside. You welcomed Jane home. What more proof does this obstinate thick-headed man need after the miracle of Jane’s salvation?

Lord, help me to place my hope and trust in You and You alone - not in others or even myself. Fill me to overflowing with the virtue of hope, so that I will command the demons of despair to depart the instant they arrive. Lord, let me never forget that I will destroy my soul “if hope in You is not present” in my heart."

You created us to know love and serve You on this earth and to be with You eternally in the next. You promised Lord that good will come to those who trust and love You. That is Your promise to me and to all who believe in You.

You are God! You keep all Your promises! Nothing, no one can prevail against You, almighty and loving Lord – You who offers us eternal life. 

​May I never lose sight of Your promises. Let nothing or no one steal this hope from me!

See Mike's Blog

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

As I have acknowledged previously, Father Ignatius John Schweitzer, O.P gave birth to Godhead Here in Hiding Whom I Do Adore – Lay Dominicans Reflect on Eucharistic Adoration two year ago, when he invited the Lay Dominicans of the Province of St. Joseph to share their thoughts on the Eucharist and Eucharistic Adoration. He did this not knowing how many would respond or in what genre they would write.


As a result of Father’s invitation, we now have a symphony of diverse reflections – from the simple to the sublime. Each reflection is a gem in its own right. Each one an invitation to a greater belief in, and reverence for, God’s Presence among us.

Try this gem on for size:

                                                            In the Presence of the Lord
 “Come out of the marketplace, put down your vegetable knives, the laundry, your coming and going. Let your hands drop from the work of the world. Bring me your heart. Leave everything else.”
Imagine Jesus entering a village, and the excited residents calling from house to house, “He is here! Come! He has arrived!” A bucket drops back into the well, dough is covered with a bowl for later, the loom goes quiet, a plough tilts to one side in the furrow. Breathless villagers rush to sit at the feet of the rabbi named Jesus. The room is warm, and the energy is electric around Him. They listen, some with questions beating in their chests like birds in a cage. Jesus answers their unuttered questions as He speaks. Some bring sadness like baskets of dust, some bring the charred remains of long-held anger, some are as full of worry as a tall jar of olives. A secretly wrapped wound, a coughing child, a pain that is old and never relents - people bring all of these things to Jesus. He heals, transforms, steadies, and uplifts with both His words and His gentle, penetrating gaze, and everyone there feels this grace of His touch, even if He does not touch them physically.

When He was born, Jesus was brought gold, myrrh, frankincense. People were still coming to Him with full hands, but whether it was a gift of kings, or a tear-streaked face and an apron full of dusty figs, He accepts everything. Jesus leans forward to stress a word, raise a palm, tilts His head back and laughs, and the people know He is not only a teacher, but a healer, a master, and a joyful friend. Like dawn spreading pink and gold across the sky, they begin to realize who He is: the anointed one, long awaited, the Messiah.

When He left the village, they cried, already missing Him, and most returned to their work thinking about His words, but even more, remembering how He made them feel. They would never be the same, and they knew it.

The world is still a marketplace, a busy village, not that different from the way it was two thousand years ago. And still, God, is calling us to put down some of the busyness, and to sit with Him.
​
The voice of God is not a cinematic production, at least not for me. It doesn’t rock the sky with fireworks. Instead, it comes quietly the way snow arrives silently in the night, the beauty of its arrival lost if we are not awake to see it. In the stillness and silence, we can feel the presence of God. Our time in prayer is like taking new yarn and dipping it into a vat of dye. The yarn emerges tinted with the dye bath just as we emerge from prayer with hearts saturated with love.

But there is another step in this metaphor because colored yarn is not too useful left as it is. When we receive the Eucharist, we are bringing everything that we are, what we have, into the presence of God. Like the people who once sat at Jesus’ feet, we bring Him our fears, our worries, maybe our thanksgiving, a heart full of joy. Or maybe we offer our hearts, like bundles of yarn, freshly dyed, and we say, like St. Ignatius, "Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will, all that I have and all that I possess. You gave it all to me, Lord; I give it all back to you. Do with it as you will, according to your good pleasure. Give me your love and your grace; for with this I have all that I need.” And God receives the humble yarn of who we are. But the thing is, He doesn’t just take it. He changes it and creates with it. The Master Weaver makes something new, with his own hands, from who we thought we were, into what He calls us to be.

In our modern world change is constant, and even feels accelerated. We may be eager to change, but we often can fear change. We can be inspired by it or resent it. Do you remember being a child and going through the car wash, sitting in the backseat while the soapy rags dragged over the top and sides of the car? Inside, the car was dry and untouched. Similarly, we can drive through life’s car wash, everything swirling in rotary brushes and beaters, while inside, our hearts remain the same. Wouldn’t we want God to clean our hearts, sparkling bright and to change us? To fulfill our Christian vocation as it was designed by God: to be conformed to the image of his Son?

As the wool cannot resist the dye, we too are changed in the presence of Jesus on the altar. Day after day, we sit in His presence, maybe silently, with silence being the sacred corridor of prayer in the heart. We bring the fibers of the day, and the skeins of our longing, and God as Weaver takes them all, and changes them into something more beautiful, because it is in His design. Perhaps we think of the many things in our lives that need changing, but the main work is the transformation of the heart as it is gradually repaired, healed, and maybe even turned from stone to flesh, all in His presence.

Isn’t God everywhere? Can’t we meet Him while matching socks and folding laundry? Yes, because God is in everything like the tiny drop of water in the center of a kernel of corn that makes it pop. But some things are felt and understood best when we stand in their presence. The world is mostly covered in ocean, and we can spin a globe and tap our fingers across the blue paisley of the oceans. Yet if you dive past the breakers and float on your back off the Jersey shore and feel the salt in your eyes and how it lifts your body under the great expanse of sky, then you will know the ocean. The idea of the ocean pales in comparison to the experience of the ocean.

As Catholics we exist in the realm of the miraculous. It is a miracle that Jesus was born in a simple and humble way, yet in Him, the pulse and heartbeat of God was manifest in the world. It is a miracle that the presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is available to all of us in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and in Adoration. The pangs of loss felt by those ancient villagers who loved Jesus but had to say goodbye has been resolved by His outpouring of Himself on the altar. We don’t have to say goodbye. We can say hello, daily, and we can both welcome Him and be welcomed by Him. Some people live lives of work and activity punctuated by prayer. But we are called to live lives of prayer punctuated by work and activity. Prolonged prayer keeps us united with God. Through all our activities, a habitual state of simple prayer and union with God varies in intensity at different times of the day but creates a rhythm in our lives. When we take that time in Adoration into the world, every hour carries the sacred texture of Holy Hour.

If we somehow received news that Jesus was in town, that He had arrived, can you imagine the heart-bursting joy that we would feel? We would rush to wherever He was, dropping everything, and we would crowd into whatever space held Him. We would sit and pay attention to every word that came from His mouth, and long to be close enough to brush up against His clothing. When we sit or kneel in Adoration before His body in the Eucharist, we are really in His presence, every bit as much as the villagers who abandoned everything to fly to where He taught. And just as they came away changed after being in His presence, we, too, cannot help but come away changed.

Put down the kettle, the garden hose, pick up the baby, and run. He waits for you. Come out of the marketplace, put down your vegetable knives, the laundry, you’re coming and going. Let your hands drop from the work of the world. Bring Me your heart. Leave everything else.

harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2025/09/eucharistic-reflection-in-presence-of.html

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

St. Dominic de Guzman founded the Order of Preachers – the Dominicans – to preach the Gospel and to save souls. His zeal to save souls knew no limits. He reportedly spent every night in prayer tearfully asking God, “What will become of sinners?” Does such zeal for the salvation of souls exist today? In a recent post on Missio Dei, Kaleb Hammond questioned how many individuals in the world today believe that:

“Jesus is the one and only way to salvation, without whom we cannot enter heaven" and

“Hell is a real possibility for each of us and that Heaven is guaranteed to no one.”

Not many, he concluded, since we live in a culture that believes one religion is "just as good as another" and that all of us will go to heaven. I highly recommend that you read his post, The Heresy of Universalism. Here is a link.

Sadly, Kaleb is right. Our Church has long abandoned its primary duty - the salvation of souls. Not enough of its leaders have shed a tear over the countless souls who have lost their souls because of their failure to teach the Truth and their decision to remain silent in the face of rampant heresy.

Although we can do little for those souls who have already stood before the Throne of Justice, the sons and daughters of St. Dominic have neither quit the battle for souls nor lost their zeal for doing so. As long as the Order of Preachers continues being faithful to preaching the Truth and their mission to save souls, the proponents of religious indifferentism and universal salvation will, in God’s perfect timing, be defeated.

In the meanwhile, we must not remain silent in the face of lies and untruths. We must engage in the battle to save souls. We must know, teach, fraternally correct, live and defend the Truths of our Catholic Faith.

We must join our prayers and tears with those offered and shed by St. Dominic during his lifetime – unwilling to concede, from this point forward, the loss of even one more soul.​

I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

What if the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was always and everywhere offered in accordance with the dignity, reverence and obedience our God merits? If we truly worshiped Him as He deserves, do you think more Catholics would willingly and lovingly come to Mass and give their Lord the worship and adoration He ought to receive?

May the following reflection help move us in that direction wherever there may be a need to do so.

When the Host is held on high and a chalice lifted…look up! Look up and see what Mary saw.  See a naked man squirming as He bleeds against a blackened sky; see a battered human body, writhing on a tree, prisoned there by savage spikes that have torn through Sacred hands and feet; see thorn-tortured head tossing from side to side as anguished torso labors, lifts and strains; see the eyes of God roll towards heaven beseeching, as broken lips blurt out that soul piercing cry: “My God, My God, Why has Thou forsaken Me?”

What is this?  This is the Mass.  This is Crucifixion.  This is what Mary saw at the elevation of Christianity’s first Mass.  This is what you should see at the Elevation of every Mass!” 

(Father M. Raymond, O.C.S.O. from God, A Woman and the Way)

https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2025/08/eucharistic-reflection-look-up-and-see.html

​​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

“Have you noticed that you always have plenty of time for the things that you love, but there's never enough time for the things that you don't? Some people dread, avoid or find little joy in prayer because they spend their time worriedly digging into their troubles, rather than focusing on the Lord.

It is so much harder to be diligent in prayer if prayer is more a matter of discipline than desire. Turn your thoughts heavenward, look up to Jesus who walked on water. Keep from peering down into the stormy seas. The more you gaze at Him, the more prayer will be a joy."

I have excerpted the words above from a reflection on Diligence in Prayer contained in Mary’s Mantle – Consecration Prayer Journal by Christine Watkins - a book I highly recommend and one which has provided me with much fruit for mediation.

Let me share my journal response to Christine’s reflection in hopes that something she or I have written will stir your soul:

I do set aside time every morning and evening to pray, to meditate and to think of You Lord. The problem with my prayer life revolves around aridity, routineness, inattentiveness and distractedness. Prayer is often the first thing that I discard when my normal routine is disrupted. There have been times when I have gotten upset when something occurs that interrupts my prayer time or when someone does not respect it or makes it difficult or impossible for me to pray. But ultimately, it is only I who can thwart those impediments by simply being faithful to my prayer commitment.

Lord, your spiritual advisors over the centuries make it clear that the better form of prayer is to not just repetitively recite the words of others (though that has much value) but to use one's own words, to talk to You, heart to heart and, most importantly, to let You speak to me. This, of course, requires me to remain silent so I can hear You.

I admit Lord that I use the words of others too often. I acknowledge Lord that many times I just read the words without much reflection, recollection or understanding. While that is better than no prayer, You have so much more to offer me.

I thank you Lord for the exercises in Christine Watkins’ journal because they have helped me to focus on You with greater attention. I thank you Lord for the insight You have given me; now I must allow all that to take root in my heart, mind and soul- all for Your glory.
Please Lord, sanctify the time I spend in prayer. Remove the routineness and distractedness that is sometimes a part of my prayer time. Let me not gloss over a single word, since each one is a gift from You and is intended to take root in my life and to blossom.
Whenever the evil one manifests itself (especially while I am attempting to pray) “turn my thought heavenward”, make me “look up to You, Jesus, and keep me from peering down into the stormy sea.”

Lord, please bridge the huge gap that exists between what I profess to believe and how I actually live my life. NEVER, LORD, NEVER I PLEA, may I abandon my prayer life, no matter how dry and unproductive it may seem to be. Give me “the grace to focus more on You during my prayer time than digging into my troubles”.

Your words, O Lord, are alive as are the words you have placed on the lips of Your saints. Bring these Words to life when I pray, read and ponder them. Make my prayer time fruitful and joyful and a source of comfort to You. For this I pray.

harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2025/09/monday-musings-be-diligent-in-prayer.html

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

We are often prone to despair and self-pity. We are quick to abandon fundamental Truths when confronted with adversity.  We forget that we are the adopted children of God and think that He has abandoned us.  We don't  believe that He has a plan for our lives or that with Him all things are possible. 

We refuse to believe  everything that God allows in our lives is intended to  assure our eternal salvation. So we avoid Him at all costs and go to  people, places and activities that can never make us truly happy. We convince ourselves that we don't need God. We so despise ourselves that we hang our heads low, fearful of seeing an image of ourselves in the glass panes of the store fronts we walk by. 

But we must look up. We must look into the cracked windows of our souls so that we can see ourselves as God sees us - as unique, magnificent treasures made in His image. Once we open our eyes to this Truth, our lives will change. We will seek to see God in everyone else with whom we interact, especially those whom the world consider "the least of us".
God doesn't make junk. He desires to dwell within us here on this earth and to spend eternity with us in heaven - that is why He created You.
​
So look up. See Jesus extending His Holy Hands. Grab them. Hold onto them. There is no sin He will not forgive a repentant sinner. Keep your eyes on His and never again doubt how much He loves you - you whom he made in His image.

https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2025/07/another-priceless-picture-take-close.html

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

How will these words impact the way you live your Faith?
 
“If I am truly grateful for the fact that our Lord is my God and my Savior, Who shed His blood to the last drop for me and would have done it for me alone, I must react, when I see Him attacked, insulted, derided, blasphemed and His Church persecuted. That is the logical consequence of adoration.

"What good is a Holy Hour, filled with good feelings and emotion, if, as I come out and witness an offence to God, I do not take a stand? What is the sincerity of that love I pledged to Our Lord, if I remain indifferent when I see Him attacked? If my adoration is sincere, I must be ready to fight for His cause to the last breath.

If we consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the Mystical Body, which is the Catholic Church, and that the Church on earth is called the Church Militant; if we consider that it has been the Church's lot to be attacked, contested, denied, betrayed and persecuted through the ages, I must be prepared to defend her. Before those who try to make me ashamed of her, I must hold my head high and have enough knowledge of a holy doctrine to silence them.”

​harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2025/06/eucharistic-reflection-what-good-is.html

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

Hell - The Fiery Forever Furnace

Among the many problems within our Church today is the fact that far too many Catholics do
not know or live their faith. This is in large measure due to poor catechesis and the reluctance of some priests to teach the full and undiluted Truths of our Faith. Too many are content to tickle our ears and not seek to save our souls.

I believe, as did St. Vincent Ferrer, O.P., that we cannot be timid when addressing problems in
our Church and the lukewarm manner in which many of us live out our faith. St. Vincent, like the noted Italian Franciscan preacher, St. Leonard of Port Maurice referenced below, was direct and confronted people with the Truth since it is only the Truth that will set hearts and souls free.

There is a fear that the average Catholic in the pew can not "handle" the Truth, will not accept the Church's teachings and will take a hike when they are forced to listen to and live them. 
Better, many argue, that we skip over the "hard points" of what we must believe, so that we don't lose any more parishioners. For those of this theological bent, zeal for the salvation of souls is an archaic and unnecessary concept.

During this Holy Week, we Catholics should have some solid instruction on sin and the eternal
consequences given the price our Loving Lord Jesus paid for our transgressions. The realities of sin and Jesus' suffering and death are front and center this week in our liturgy, Scripture and meditations. Yes, Virginia. Hell is real - real hot. It's a fiery forever furnace of torment for souls who did not believe it existed and who failed to avoid it by seeking God's forgiveness and mercy. Not a few of these sorry souls eagerly acquiesced to the false teachers among them who told them not to worry about hell. God, they proclaimed,  is merciful and would never condemn any one to hell. Therefore, we can have a reasonable hope that all men are saved. Hell, these pundits suggest, is vacant (if it even exists at all).

Though preachers who say these things are dead wrong, once they and their followers arrive in hell, no one will have any recourse against them for their untruthful and heretical teachings.
They and their followers will suffer eternal separation from the God who always wanted them to be with Him eternally and who provided them with all the graces they needed to achieve His goal. They can't blame Him if they end up in hell. It was their choice not to believe God..

So in order to avoid such an unnecessary and eternal fate, let's act as adults this week. Take the time to read, absorb, ponder, understand and accept the Church's full teaching on hell.

Read this homily preached by St Leonard of Port Maurice.

His sermon, The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved,  will make you think. It will cause you
to become uncomfortable and even squirm. But you can give yourself no greater gift this Lent
than to listen to the Truth penned by the hand of a man emboldened by the Holy Spirit, who
though deceased now for more than 268 years, is still being used by God to save souls. Thank
God we can still read his sermon today. St. Leonard's words were true then; they are true now.

They have always been and will forever be true.

Choose eternal life!
Lord, Jesus Christ, be merciful to all of us sinners!

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

Scurry to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament!

Bet you have had a similar experience. You are reading a passage from Scripture –
one that you have read many times in the past. Suddenly from the page leaps an
insight that had heretofore escaped your grasp.

I had just such an experience early one Monday morning when I filled in for an
Adorer who was stranded some distance from our Chapel due to a significant snow
storm.

Let me set forth the familiar words of Mark’s Gospel (Mk 6:53-56) that prompts this
post and reflection:

“After making the crossing to the other side of the sea,
Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and tied up there.
As they were leaving the boat, people immediately recognized him.
They scurried about the surrounding country
and began to bring in the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. Whatever villages or towns or countryside he entered, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch only the tassel on his cloak; and as many as touched it were healed.”
(From the Revised Standard Version, emphasis added)

The great tragedy of our times is the fact that so few Catholics believe that Jesus is
really, truly and substantially present here with us in the Most Blessed Sacrament,
Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – the same Jesus the people in Mark’s Gospel
immediately recognized and approached with expectant faith.
Why don’t we recognize Him here in our midst? Why don’t we scurry around our
communities and gather the sick and present them to Him? Why do we lack the
expectant faith of those depicted in Mark’s Gospel?

No doubt there are multiple explanations that could be offered in response to these
questions. But the fundamental answer is that we are too proud!

We have made things unnecessarily complicated. We have added expectations and
hoops to jump through that our loving Lord never intended when He decided to
remain among us until the end of time.

Like Naaman, the Syrian army commander and leper who initially out of pride
thwarted God’s desire to heal him of his leprosy by refusing to wash in the Jordan
seven times as the prophet Elisha’s messenger had directed him to do (see 2 Kings
5:1-19), we refuse to recognize that the same Jesus described in Mark’s Gospel
remains physically here with us in the Most Blessed Sacrament.

He waits there for our visit and our adoration.  That’s all.  In exchange for that act of
love, gratitude and faith, He will heal us, the ones we love and those for whom we
intercede, maybe not in the exact manner which we request, but in the most perfect
way - the way that will assure eternal life for us and those for whom we pray.
Don’t be like Naaman and refuse to take a dip in the Jordan. It really is simple. Scurry
to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament where He awaits you with loving and healing
arms. Go there expecting to be healed.

And please do not forget to bring those others also in need of His healing touch with
you, if not physically than in your heart.

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

​(If God used Balaam’s donkey to get that prophet’s attention, I guess he can use me to get yours. May these periodic Monday Musings generate fruitful discussion and faithful change.)

The "New Evangelization" Must Begin With Us and In Our Homes

This letter might be a good place for the conversation to begin or to start anew:

For far too much time now, God has put it in my heart that I should write this letter.  I kept putting it off - that has become my specialty. Not a good thing to do.
  
Fortunately, our God is patient and persistent.  Even I can eventually catch on and do what He asks!  There is much that I have to share, but today I will be brief (maybe not quite as you would like) and to the point.
 
Ready?  I love you! I hope this is not startling news to any of you.  But I may never have clearly told you why.  It is simple - because God loved you enough to create you in His image and then to give each of you to me to love, cherish, teach and return to Him.  Just as we can reject Him, each of you could have easily rejected me.  But none of you did.  Each of you has chosen to love me – warts and all, good and bad – even at times when you may have had legitimate questions as to why you should.  No words can ever adequately express the enormity of what the gift of your love means to me. You see - each of you have loved me in the very same way that God loves you. 

Life here on this earth is but a temporary journey during which we have many questions.  The trials and struggles of our daily existence can sometimes weigh us down so heavily that we become despondent and wonder why our heavenly Father allows us to struggle so or permits such evil in this world.  Just as you have on occasion not understood what or why I may have asked you to do or not do something, it is okay to have the same feeling about God.   

Talk to Him!  Ask Him for answers to the questions and concerns you find most troubling and upsetting. There are answers He will give you if you will humble yourself to ask them and if you are willing to put aside your opinion until after you have read authentic explanations of what He actually teaches and why, not what others mistakenly say He taught.   

I certainly do not know everything (despite persistent vicious rumors to the contrary). No one does.  I believe God has allowed me to stay here among you so that I might finish the job He gave me and either accurately answer your questions on His behalf or refer you directly to someone or some resource that will honestly and reliably do so.
  
There is no other human being on earth that loves you more than I. At times I will disappoint you, but I will never ever mislead you about what God expects of us. I am not asking you to blindly accept everything that I tell you.  But I pray that your love for me will cause you to give thoughtful consideration to, and not lightly dismiss, what advice I may be moved to share with you from time to time. Too many times, I have been afraid and cowardly to do so.  Such fear and cowardice is offensive to God and deprives you of what an earthly husband and father must provide to those he loves.  If I am to be at spiritual peace here and with Him at the end of this life, I must cast aside that fear. 
 
Please never become upset with me when I share with you what is in my heart.  I have no choice.  God requires me to do so, even though there will be times when what I have to say may initially make you feel uncomfortable.  I am not judging you. I am simply loving you by obeying Him and sharing His Truth. Ultimately, you remain free to accept or reject that advice, just as you are free to respond or reject the graces that God offers you each day.  I will never love you any less than I do now.  With God’s grace I will love you more and more each day.  But you honor Him and me when you love us enough to thoughtfully think about what we share – since all that you and I do or fail to do here on this earth has eternal consequences. 
On the same token, you must continue to persistently (but lovingly) point out the many times that my actions are inconsistent with what I profess to believe or what I have tried to pass on to you as the Truth.  Since Blessed John Paul II felt it necessary to go to confession every day, I suspect that you will have many, many opportunities to help me out in that regard. If we love each other in this way, God will lead each of us to Him, we will find satisfaction in our earthly lives, and we will be together eternally - and isn’t that what this life is really all about? 
More than four years ago in a time of crisis and uncertainty,
you let me know how much you loved me.  

Your words profoundly touched my heart then and continue to remind me today how immensely God has blessed me. Let me love you as I ought and for however long I will be here with you. But keep me and all whom you love honest. Please do me and yourselves another favor.  Every now and then, reflect on the following Truths:
  
“God made you.” 
“He loves you.” 
“God wishes to spend eternity with you.” 
 
"You accept or reject Him and this great undeserved gift by the manner in which you exercise the free will He has given you. The choice as to where you spend your eternal life rests with you."
 
"Until then, He desires to physically unite Himself with you now, every time you receive Him, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in Holy Communion."
 
“You must live your life for Him.” 

“You can not do anything of eternal value by yourself!  You need Him and His graces.” 

One more thing - Would you begin each day with at least this little prayer:  

“Lord, help me to live and love like You.” 

Offered with all the love an imperfect man can muster.

https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2012/10/monday-musings-new-evangelization-must.html

I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

We appreciate the ongoing efforts of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to foster greater awe, amazement and belief in our Lord’s Real and Substantial Presence here among us in the Eucharist. 

The number of Eucharistic processions that have taken place throughout this nation have been heartening. The excellent homilies, posts, videos and testimonies of priests, religious and lay Catholics that our bishops have shared on social media have also been inspiring - no doubt countless souls have been touched.

We pray that the Church’s current efforts are reaching not just the choir but the millions of non-believing Catholics and former Catholics who inhabit this great nation.

How are we going to assess the success of these efforts?

Simple: If those professing to be Catholic believe that God is really, truly and substantially present in the consecrated hosts in our tabernacles, they will flock to be with Him – He who loves them and awaits their visit. They would never miss Mass on Sundays and holy days of obligation.

The reverent silence in our Churches evidencing such belief would be apparent and deafening. Parishes would increase the opportunities for hungry souls to make Holy Hours and adore their Lord. True believers would never leave Him abandoned and alone. Our Churches would never be empty! Someone would always be with our Lord, every hour of every day. 

Every parish in the world would have chapels of Perpetual  Eucharistic Adoration - the dream and request of our late and beloved St. John Paul II. 

​Does this describe the Eucharistic Revival which you are experiencing in your parish? If not, there are more souls to reach - more work to be done.

https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2024/12/monday-musings-do-you-really-believe.html

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

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 warfare.

Despair would be such an easy response to this on-going slaughter!

“What good are you fools doing?” one could imagine Satan whispering in our ears. “Look around! Count the number of woman who flock here! Where are your fellow parishioners? Oh, how happy I am when your pastors do not let you post flyers or notices in your Churches about your prayerful vigils. Where are your bishops and priests? How ecstatic I am when no prayer warriors show up!”

“I particularly relish your sense of helplessness and shame,” he might sneer, “when you approach those entering this evil place and they stop, look you right in the eye, and say 'Unless you are able to take care of me and this baby, get our of my way'.”

We have so few resources to offer these women. Why? Aside from the salvation of souls, is there any greater priority our Church should have than the protection of human life?

This is no time to despair or end our efforts to protect the dignity of all human life. We know that God in His perfect timing will end this slaughter of human life. Over the years we know, our prayerful presence has made a difference, not only in those women who have changed their minds and not followed through with a scheduled abortion, not only by the fact that a number of these death camps have closed forever, but also by the affirming words of support shared by other women who stop and let us know that we should never cease our prayerful witness in front of this place of death and deception, tearfully telling us that had we been there several years ago, they would never had aborted their child!

How have we as Catholics and as a society come to so devalue the gift of life? There are many reasons one might offer. But in my mind, the primary one is the same one that is at the source of the crisis in our Church – the lack of belief in the living Author of life, physically present with us until the end of time - His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity hidden behind the Sacred Host.

If we valued His Presence here among us, if we spent time before Him in the Blessed Sacrament, if we allowed Him to nourish and penetrate our souls, we could never be absent from the fight for life.

https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2017/09/worth-revisiting-cold-as-death.html#more

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

"… I will treasure more than anything else the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is often said that it is the Mass that matters. This means that Mass is the most important thing in the world. It is very true. But I really think that sanctifying grace matters most of all. Still, where do I get that from if not through the Sacrifice of the Cross which is continued in the Sacrifice of the Mass. I am afraid.  I do not think as highly of Holy Mass as I should. And this reminds me of a story I have often read about the Sacred linen in Greenland. It was in the sixteenth century. There had been a religious persecution in the island and all priests had been killed or driven out, so that for fifty years there was no Mass at all in Greenland.
​
After fifty years, there were still some scattered Catholics left. They used to meet every year for a Christmas celebration in a lonely house almost covered by snow. On one such night they all gathered together in the house. First, they said some prayers. Then an old man arose, went to a bureau, and took from it what used to be a white cloth, like a big, square napkin. Now it was yellow with age and tattered. It was a corporal, that linen cloth on which, during Holy Mass, rest the Body and Blood of Christ. The old man said: ‘Brethren, fifty years ago Mass was last said in this country. I served that last Mass. Let us kneel down and thank God for this precious relic, on which rested the Body and Blood of Jesus. And let us pray that God may send us priests to offer the Holy Sacrifice in our midst again.’

Tears streamed from all eyes as they knelt to pray. And all around me there are now so many churches and so many Masses are being offered. I do not think I value enough the chances that I have to assist at Holy Mass. Where there is a persecution and hearing Mass is forbidden under pain of torture or death, good Catholics nevertheless go to Mass, even if it is in caves under the ground.

Those good people in Greenland knelt down and thanked God for that precious Sacred linen. How happy and how devout they would have been if they could have bowed down before Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament! And I am often so careless and thoughtless in my genuflections and in my way of kneeling or sitting or standing in the presence of my Eucharistic Savior. And it seems that the more I have to do around the Blessed Sacrament, the more like a pagan I become."
 
(The Way to God - Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S.)

PRAYER TO BE PRESERVED FROM SUDDEN DEATH
MOST AMIABLE JESUS "I humbly implore Thee by Thy ignominious Scourging, The Crowning with Thorns, Thy Holy Cross, and by all Thy Goodness, not to permit me to pass out of this world without having received Thy most holy Sacraments." -Prayer of St. Vincent Ferrer

PRAYER OF ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA​
"Eternal Father, all things are possible for You. Although You created us without our assistance, You will not save us unless we help. Therefore, I pray You re-create their wills so that they wish for what they do not wish for: I ask this of Your infinite mercy. You have created us out of nothing. Now that we exist have mercy on us. Re-make the vessel which You created in Your own image and likeness. Bring them back to Your grace through the grace and blood of You Son, the beloved Jesus Christ."

​https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2024/11/eucharistic-reflection-treasure-holy.html

I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

​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.

Alice Von Hildebrand
“The saint is precisely he who lives in constant and intimate communion with God, he who does not allow anything or anyone to separate him from God, he who victoriously links to God everything happening to him, sickness or health, poverty or wealth, infamy or fame from Solitude and Communion.
 (From Solitude and Communion)
 
 Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
“The forgiveness of sin is a greater manifestation of the power of God than the creation of the world. Creation makes something out of nothing. Forgiveness puts something into nothing. But the forgiveness that opens paradise is obtained as the thief obtained his, namely by asking for it. 
(From Lord Teach Us to Pray: A Fulton Sheen Anthology)

 Christine Watkins
 “Our Lady never shouldered any undertaking or spoke serious words without first aligning herself in prayer with the Lord’s will. As you go through your day, remind yourself to consult God before you speak or act, asking Him what He would have you do or say. “
(From Mary’s Mantle)

https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/​

I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.

“From My tabernacles abandoned by my children, I see so many of them passing by My churches everyday. They don't look at Me but I look at them. I follow them with My gaze everywhere just in case, by chance, they will turn to look at Me, encountering My gaze. Poor children! I see in their faces the weariness of carrying the heavy crosses. Even in the faces of those who pass by smiling, I can see the same weariness. The cross is very heavy! The incurable illnesses, lack of economic resources, the burden of debts, the suffering of family members, the torture of slander and false accusations, the passions, the remorse for their sins, and the thousands of difficulties of human life place much weight on such weak shoulders! Poor children! And when I see them pass by so overwhelmed, I say to Myself, ‘If they would see Me! If they could just see Me! How well we would understand each other.’

I would pick up the anxiety of their looks as a prayer, and I would take it to the celestial Father, who always says 'Yes' to Me. Then, how well paid they would be by the look I would give them.
But be careful! I will not always take away the cross that they carry. Their sinful flesh and arrogant spirit need the cross in order to gain My kingdom, which is the kingdom of the humble and purified. But without taking the cross away from them, how I would make it lighter, happier, fruitful and sanctifying. If my weary and overwhelmed children would decide to turn their eyes towards my Tabernacle every morning as they take up again their daily cross, they would receive great encouragement. They would hear, without sounds of words, but with an emphasis that would pierce their souls, My question to them from the Gospel: ‘Are you able…?’ And they would have the strength to reply. ‘We are’ (Mt 20:22).

Adorers, please have compassion toward them and toward Me and bring the afflicted to the Tabernacle.

(From the Bishop of the Abandoned Tabernacle- St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia)

https://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/

​I am blessed to be a Lay Dominican. However, the ideas expressed on this blog are my own and do not represent the endorsement of or position of the Order of Preachers as a whole. I am neither responsible for, nor endorse content (e.g. banner ads, pop-up ads, etc.) that may be linked to this blog.