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praying on the
shoulders of giants.
A gem minefield of prayers and
quotes
By Robert Colquhoun
Prayer is the opening of the heart and mind to God. When we listen to Jesus we discover
the unspoken words in our heart. In the silence of our hearts it is good to spend time often
with the one who loves us. St Teresa of Avila says that mental prayer is sharing closely
between friends. The Cure of Ars (Saint John Vianney) recommends that we should listen
to everything God says in the keyhole of your heart.
Distractions
It is inevitable that in our time of prayer we will encounter distractions. Prayer is a battle
against ourselves and Satan who does everything to turn man away from prayer. Satan
can use the damage, mistakes and hurts of our life to make us feel and think that God
does not love us. But this is a lie. If we listen to God in our hearts we find an alternative
message. In this battle we must face the erroneous notions or attitudes to prayer. We must
confront what we experience as failure in prayer. To overcome these obstacles we must
gain and grow in humility, trust and perseverance.
It is the nature of the human mind to wander. No matter how hard we try to keep our
attention focused on one thing, we can’t do so for long periods. Distractions reveal what
we are attached to. They can either be voluntary or involuntary. The best way to deal with
a distraction is, after we are aware we have one to redirect your thoughts to Christ. Return
you mind to prayer as an act of love and offer your mind and heart to God to be purified.
Mother Theresa tells us that if we pray with words, let them be filled with love and come
from the depths of the heart. We should pray with great respect and trust. We can fold our
hands, close eyes, lift up your heart to the Lord as a pure sacrifice.
Dryness
It is likely that we may encounter dryness in prayer. This is the inability to arouse any
devotion; feeling like nothing is happening. The most important thing is not to be
discouraged and to persevere as best as possible. Some causes of dryness can be: being
sick or tired or lukewarm, temptation, habitual sin, timidity to serving God or disinterest
in the spiritual life. As Christians, we need prayer as much as we need to breath. By
avoiding going into auto-pilot, we can stop being too mechanical in our methods. Our
success in prayer is not down to emotional experience but more to faithfulness in prayer.
For morning prayer, we can thank God for the gift of life. We can talk to him all about the
coming day. We can consider when we are most likely to fall from him. We could even
set our alarm clocks 10 minutes early to get some extra prayer time in during the day. In
the Gospel of Mark, Jesus rose at dawn, went to a deserted place and prayed. We can do
the same.
There are some good practical tips that can help us focus in prayer. We can find a helpful
focal point, such as a tabernacle, crucifix or icon. It is best to be in a quiet place by
oneself, away from a telephone or television. If you start to sleep, change your posture.
Some people like to write a prayer journal and this can be a great way to stay focused.
Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of himself. You can
pray while you work. It is possible to offer all your activities as a prayer. We should pray
constantly, but we can’t do this unless we pray at specific times. Even a simple prayer
like, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner’ is a great formula.
St Francis de Sales offered some valuable advice on the need for evening prayer. He tells
us, “Never omit (evening prayer) any more than that of the morning, for as by the latter
you open the windows of the soul to the sun of righteousness, so by these evening
devotions you close them against the darkness of hell.” Prayers can be dry and dull. But
we cannot grow without a reliance on spiritual pleasures as there is no instant
gratification in the spiritual life. St Francis also lets us know that “He who truly loves
prayer loves it for the love of God.”
St Vincent de Paul knew about the importance of prayer for missionary work when he
said, “A man of prayer is capable of everything; therefore, it is of great importance that
missionaries give themselves to this exercise with particular earnestness and without it
they will gain little or no fruit, so with its help they will become much more able to move
hearts and convert souls to their creator, then by learning an oratorical skill.”
Chastity is a fruit of prayer. Prayer helps us to lead a supernatural life, leading us to the
fulfilment and happiness of being the people we are called to be. Prayer helps us to bring
order and control to our sexuality. If we Pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can be
confident that no one who had recourse to her help, sought her intercession, implored her
help was left forsaken. We can build up self control and strength against sin by going to
the Sacrament of reconciliation.
Providence
God’s designed the world to be full of providence. Aquinas believed that “To believe
there is a God is to believe in one whose government and providence extend to all
things.” Providence is God’s plan, by which he directs the universe to an end. End of a
thing is its good. Nothing in nature has its own end, and therefore it is directed to
something beyond its own nature and the world. Some events are directed and intended
by God- this we can call providence. God’s providence extends as far as his power, and
this keeps all in existence. His power extends to all things, because “not one sparrow falls
to the ground without God knowing about it.” (Matt 10:29). Providence is both the plan
in God’s mind and the execution (gubernatio) of this plan.
The world is neither purely determined or down to chance, or irrational. Chance and
determinism both deny providence as they deny the ruling of the universe by an
intelligence. Providence is able to accommodate both chance and determinism in nature.
Providence is connected to the teleological argument for the existence of God which
demonstrates how things are directed to an end by an intelligent being. The world is not
necessitated, as God created it by free will, but providence is infallible.
How do we understand evil if we believe in providence? The Manichees believed that not
everything was under God’s plan. We as Christians however believe God is the primary
cause, but the sole cause of things, but he also executes his plan according to secondary
causes and free agents. God keeps all things in existence but does not immediately cause
all things: he makes other things be proper causes too. Providence is capable of including
evil because God does not will evil but allows it and he is able to draw good out of evil.
Evil is contrary to God’s will. However it is not against God’s will that intelligent beings
have free will. This includes the possibility of turning against God. God directs
everything towards a good end- he also has clemency in pardoning and justice in
punishing in this respect.
How can chance be part of God’s plan? Aristotle said that chance by nature is incidental
to other things and these things are intended. Therefore chance cannot exist by itself.
(Aristotle, Physics, II, c.8, 198a 5-10).
If providence is certain, is not everything in it necessary? We are not ruled by fate and
many things in the universe are contingent. Astrology states that our lives are determined
by the movement of heavenly beings. A reliance on astrology is incompatible with trust in
divine providence.
Prayer presupposes hope. Prayer is a cause of things happening as part of God’s plan.
God wills something to come about as a result of prayer. Prayer is effective because it is
part of God’s providence that some things be asked for in prayer. In Matthew 6:32 we
read “Your heavenly father know you need all these things.” If all our prayers were
answered, God would not rule creation freely. Part of providence is that some things are
done freely. God inspires us and causes us to pray. God sometimes has better things in
store for us and therefore we do not always receive what we pray for. God wants us to
express our desires in prayer for what he wants to give us. If we did not need to pray for
things, we would not be grateful when we received them. Prayer forces us to
acknowledge that we depend on God. Prayer also disposes us for the things he has
ordained to give us by providence. We do not bend God’s will by prayer but arouse our
trust in him. Prayer can give us strength in adversity. If we do not turn to God for help,
we will soon turn to lesser things instead for help (idolatry, consulting spirits, Saul and
the witch of Endor, 1 Sam c.28 and his suicide 1 Sam c. 31). Prayer helps the saints to
attain the blessed life which God has predestined for them from eternity. Therefore prayer
does not cause predestination but it furthers the realisation of God’s plan. It would be a
presumption to assume that we do not need to pray for example if I need to get better. It
would be fatalism to think that It is not God’s will that I get better so prayer is useless.
Miracles
Miracles are evidence that it is well worth praying for things, as there are exceptions to
the course of nature. They are an unwelcome reality to those who presuppose that all is
explained by reason as they point towards a higher power. A miracle is a natural effect
that occurs without a natural cause. God created the laws of nature, and so naturally he is
not constrained by them. In the Gospels we read “Who is this man that even the sea and
winds obey him.” (Matt 8:27). Hume did not believe in miracles because we have no
reason to accept the testimony of those who believe in miracles. As there is no uniform
experience of miracles we cannot believe those who are witnesses to them.
Be not anxious of what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting father who cares for
you today will take care of you tomorrow and every day. Either he will shield you from
suffering or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then, and put as all
anxious thoughts and imagining.
Piergiorgio Frassati
Prayer for the courage to be great
Heavenly Father, give us the courage to strive for the highest goals, to flee every
temptation to be mediocre.
Enable us to aspire to greatness, as Pier Giorgio did, and to open our hearts in joy to your
call to holiness.
Free us from the fear of failure.
We want to be, Lord, firmly and forever united to You.
Grant us the graces we ask You through Pier Giorgio’s intercession, by the merits of Our
Lord Jesus Christ.
Battle Prayer
Lord, our God, at the beginning of this day I offer you praise and thanks, for you are so
good to me. I recognize that ‘all is gift’ today, and I freely choose to live my life for you
today.
I surrender every area of my life completely and unreservedly to you, and offer my body
as a living sacrifice, so it is no longer I who live, but you in me. I renew my allegiance to
You in prayer. I thank you that you have loved me from the beginning of time and have
sent the Lord Jesus to die as my substitute. I bring the blood of Jesus between Satan and
myself and reject all works of evil in my life today.
I choose today to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. I receive all spiritual
blessings of heaven in Christ. I recognize that I cannot stand by my own strength nor
might, but only by the spirit of God. I therefore resist the devil and watch him flee as I
begin this day by fighting the good fight against evil in my life.
As a soldier of Jesus Christ I confidently stand my ground as I put on the belt of truth, the
breastplate of righteousness, the sandals of eagerness to spread the Good News and the
helmet of salvation. I lift high the shield of faith against all the fiery arrows of the enemy,
and I take in my hand the sword of the spirit, the word of God. I choose to use your word
against all the forces of evil in my life today.
By faith and in complete dependence upon you I forsake the fleshly works of my old self
and stand in the victory of the crucifixion where the Lord Jesus cleansed me from my old
self. I forsake all forms of selfishness and put on love. I forsake fear and take up your
courage. I put off weakness, and put on strength. I resist all lust, and receive your
righteousness and purity.
I recognize that my battle today is not with any earthly being, but against the rulers, the
authorities and the powers of this dark world which are opposed to the Lord and His
anointed, Jesus Christ. Therefore, I tear down the strongholds of Satan and smash the
plans he has formed against me today. I tear down the strongholds of Satan formed
against my mind today and I surrender my mind to you, Holy Spirit. I break and smash
the strongholds of Satan formed against my will today and give my will to you. I wreck
the plans of Satan formed against my body today and give my body to you, recognizing
that I am your temple.
Lord, our God, enable me today to be aggressive in prayer and diligent in my work, that I
might practice your word today and place you first in my life. May all the work of the
crucifixion, the resurrection, the glorification and the Pentecost be released in my life
today. You have proven your magnificent power by resurrecting Jesus Christ from the
dead, and I claim this victory over all Satanic forces in my life. I pray in the name of the
Lord Jesus Christ with thanksgiving. Amen
Father,
I abandon myself into your hands;
Do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do,
I thank you:
I am ready for all,
I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me,
and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord.
Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence,
for you are my Father,
Prayer of St. Ambrose Before Mass
Sweetest Jesus, Body and Blood most Holy, be the delight and pleasure of my soul, my
strength and salvation in all temptations, my joy and peace in every trial, my light and
guide in every word and deed, and my final protection in death. Amen
Memorare of St Bernard
Amen.
Litany of Humility
This prayer was written by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), the secretary of
state for Pope Saint Pius X. It is a very good daily prayer, especially when recited in front
of a crucifix so that we can recall the humility of Christ.
You should recite the italicized responses ("deliver me, O Jesus" for the first two thirds of
the prayer and "O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it" for the final third) after each line
of the litany.
Litany of Humility
That others may be loved more than I, O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That, in the opinion of the world, others may, increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
O Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
Oh, Saint Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from
your divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that, having
engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to
the most loving of Fathers.
Oh Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you, and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare
not approach while he reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss his fine
head for me and ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.
All highest, glorious God, cast your light into the darkness
of our hearts, give us true faith, firm hope, perfect charity
and profound humility, so that with wisdom, courage and
perception, O Lord, we may do what is truly your holy will.
Amen.
Prayer of Surrender
Thomas Merton
Prayer of St Augustine
Lord Jesus, let me know myself and know You,
And desire nothing save only You.
Let me hate myself and love You.
Let me do everything for the sake of You.
Let me humble myself and exalt You.
Let me think of nothing except You.
Let me die to myself and live in You.
Let me accept whatever happens as from You.
Let me banish self and follow You,
And ever desire to follow You.
Let me fly from myself and take refuge in You,
That I may deserve to be defended by You.
Let me fear for myself, let me fear You,
And let me be among those who are chosen by You.
Let me distrust myself and put my trust in You.
Let me be willing to obey for the sake of You.
Let me cling to nothing save only to You,
And let me be poor because of You.
Look upon me, that I may love You.
Call me that I may see You,
And for ever enjoy You. Amen.
Shine Through us
Cardinal Newman
God has created me to do him some definite service; he has committed some work to me
which he has not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this
life, but I shall be told it in the next. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between
persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good; I shall do his work. I shall be
an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it- if I do but
keep his commandments. Therefore I will trust him. Whatever, wherever I am. I can
never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him. He does nothing
in vain. He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends; He may throw me
among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future
from me – still He knows what he is about.
Prayer to St Michael
Pope Leo XIII
Act of Faith
Oh my God, I firmly believe that you are one God in three divine persons, Father Son and
Holy Spirit.
I believe that your divine Son became man, died for our sins, and that he will come to
judge the living and the dead.
I believe in these and all truths, which the holy Catholic Church teaches, because you
have revealed them, who can neither deceive or be deceived. Amen.
Act of Hope
Oh my God, relying on your almighty power, and infinite mercy ad promises, I hope to
obtain pardon of my sins, the help of Your grace, and life everlasting, through the merits
of Jesus Christ, my Lord and redeemer. Amen.
Act of Love
O my God, I love you above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because you are all
good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbour as myself for the love of you. I forgive
all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured. Amen.
Act of Trust
In all my temptations, in all my weaknesses, in all my difficulties, in all my sorrows, in
every failure, in every discouragement, in all my undertakings, in life and in death in time
and in eternity, O sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in you. Amen.
Anima Christi
Author unknown
Peace prayer
St Francis
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
when there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying [to ourselves] that we are born to eternal life.
Suscipe
St Ignatius of Loyola
Receive, O Lord, all my liberty. Take my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.
Whatsoever I have or possess Thou hast bestowed upon me; I give it all back to Thee and
surrender it wholly to be governed by Thy Will. Give me love for Thee alone along with
Thy grace, and I am rich enough and ask for nothing more.
Christ Be With Me
“Man cannot find himself except through a sincere gift of himself, the only creature on
earth willed for itself.” (Gaudium et Spes, n.24)
“Truth and freedom either go together hand in hand or together they perish in misery.”
(John Paul II, Fides et Ratio n. 90, in Light of John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and
the truth will set you free”)
Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible for himself,
his life is meaningless, if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he
does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not participate intimately in it.
(John Paul II, Redemptor Hominis, n.44)
“Natural religion is based upon the sense of sin, it recognises the disease, but it cannot
find it does not but look for the remedy. That namely, both for guilt and moral impotence,
is found in the central doctrine of revelation, the mediation of Christ” (John Henry
Newman)
The future of humanity passes by way of the family (John Paul II, Familaris Consortio,
n.86)
“Family is the sanctuary of life.” (John Paul II, Centismus Annus 1991)
“Respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you
find justice, development, freedom, peace and happiness! (John Paul II, Evangelium
Vitae).
“Without the creator the creature would disappear… but when God is forgotten the
creature itself grows intelligible.” (cf. Gaudium et Spes, n.36)
“You formed by inmost being” (Ps 139:13)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated
you.” (Jeremiah 1:5)
“Democracy cannot be a substitute for morality” (John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae)
“Democracy without values turns into an open or thinly disguised totalitarianism.” (John
Paul II, Vertatis Spendour, commenting on the risk of alliance between democracy and
ethical relativism).
“The passing of such laws (that are in contravention of the moral order) undermines the
very nature of authority and results in its shameful abuse.” (John XXIII, Pacem in Terris)
Aquinas- “Unjust law ceases to be law and becomes an act of violence” (De Libero
Arbitonio).
Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation
of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to
know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to
the fullness of truth about themselves (cf. Ex 33:18; Ps 27:8-9; 63:2-3; Jn 14:8; 1 Jn 3:2).
(John Paul II, Introduction to Fides et Ratio)
“Children are a gift from the Lord, the fruit of the womb, a reward… Blessed is the man
whose quivers are full, they will never be shown contended with foes at the gate.” (Ps
127:3-5, cf. John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio)
“One cannot do anything with a heart that is vain and full of itself, it is of no use, either to
itself or to others.” (St Francis de Sales).
“What shall I render to the Lord for all this bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of
salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.” (Ps 116:12-3, quoted in John Paul II,
Letter to Priests 2001).
“As a dog returns to its vomit so a fool reverts to its folly.” (Pr 26:11)
“It is natural for any man to err, but only for a fool to persist in his error.” (Cicero)
God willed man to remain “under the control of his own decisions.” (Sir 15:14, and
Gaudium et Spes).
Jesus- “The Physician of the body and the spirit.” (St Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the
Ephesians).
Mass- “The medicine of immortality” (cf. St Ignatius of Antioch, letter to the Ephesians)
- “A sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity.” (Sacrosanctum
Concilium, n. 47)
“Large population monarch’s glory, dwindling population, ruler’s ruin.” (Proverbs 14:28)
“Come back to Yahweh your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger,
rich in faithful love.” (Joel 2:13).
The Catholic Church manages to amalgamate “Personal piety and liturgical ritual,
evangelistic outreach and social actions, spiritual fervour and intellectual rigour,
academic freedom and dynamic orthodoxy, enthusiastic worship and reverent
contemplation, powerful preaching and sacramental devotion, scripture and tradition,
body and soul, individual and the corporate.” (Scott and Kimberley Hahn, Rome Sweet
Home).
Ethical relativism perverts democratic societies, “Democracy can be idolized to the point
of making it a subsitute for morality or a panacea for immorality.” (John Paul II, Letter to
Families, 1994)
“Thou art just Lord, and righteous are thy judgements” (Ps 118:137).
“You are my hope and my crown, You o Lord are my joy and honour.” (Thomas Kempis,
Imitation of Christ, p86)
“Aquinas is the lodestar of intellectual sanity” (Crocker, The power and the glory).
“Church is like a pilgrim in a foreign land, presses forward amid the persecutions of the
world and the consolations of God.” (St. Augustine City of God, XVIII).
“It has always seemed to me possible, and even probable, that there would be a
resurrection of Islam and that our sons and guardians would see the renewal of the
tremendous struggle between the Christian culture and for 1000 years its greatest
opponent.” (Belloc, Heresies).
“The human soul is of infinite worth because it cost the blood of God.” (John XXIII,
Journal of a soul).
“Let the devil bay and scream at the door of your heart, offering you a thousand images
and untimely thoughts. As he cannot enter except through the door of consent, keep this
firmly closed and put your mind at rest. Do not get anxious when the waves batter against
your boat; have no fear while God is with you.” (St Francis de Sales, Spiritual letters, Vol
II, letter to an abbey).
“The soul shows its royal and exalted character… in that it is free and self governed,
swayed autonomously by its own will. Of whom else can this be said, save a king? ….
Thus human nature, created to rule other creatures, was by its likeness to the king of the
universe made as it were a living image, partaking with the archetype both in dignity and
in name.” (Saint Gregory of Nyssa, De Hominis Opificio, Ch.4)
“Let us stand firm in the fight on the day of the Lord, for days of affliction and misery are
here… we are not dogs that cannot speak, nor silent observers, nor mercenaries fleeing
from wolves! Instead we are hard working pastors who watch over Christ’s flock, who
proclaim God’s will to people whether important or ordinary, rich or poor… in season or
out of season.” (St Boniface, Boniface to Cuthbert, Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year
767)
“The height of philosophy is to be simple with prudence” (St John Chrysostom, Hom
LXII al)
“Conscience has rights before it has duties” (John Henry Newman, Vol 2, 250)
“Conscience- the aboriginal vicar of Christ” (John Henry Newman)
“Conscience is like God’s herald and messenger, it does not command things on its own
authority, but commands them as coming from God’s authority, like a herald when he
proclaims the edict of a king. This is why conscience has a binding force.” (St.
Bonadventure, In II Librum Secectiaram)
“Man can be condemned by his own conscience… the proximate norm of personal
morality… conscience not exempt from the possibility of error….gradually becomes
almost blind from being accustomed to sin, ….(or when contrary to the universality and
immutability of natural law).” (cf. John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor).
“All things subject to change and to becoming never remain constant, but continually
pass from one state to the other, for better or worse…. Now human life is always subject
to change; it needs to be born ever anew… but here birth does not come around by
foreign intervention, as in the case with bodily beings…..; it is the result of a free choice.
Thus we are in a certain way our own parents, creating ourselves as we will, by our
decisions.” (St Gregory of Nyssa, De Vita Mossis II, 2-3)
Christ “forms us according to his image, in such a way that the traits of his divine nature
shine forth in us through sanctification and justice and the life which is in conformity
with virtue… the beauty of this image shines forth in us who are in Christ, when we show
ourselves to be good in our works.” (St Cyril of Alexandria, IDJE)
“It is not enough to do good works, they need to be done well. For our works to be good
and perfect, they must be done for the sole purpose of pleasing God.” (St. Ligouri,
Practica di Amor Gesu Cristo, VII, 3)
“Serve the Lord with gladness, in the house of the Lord, slavery is free, it is free because
it serves not out of necessity, but out of charity… charity should make you a servant, just
as truth should set you free… you are at once both a servant and free: a servant, because
you have become such: free because you are loved by God your creator; indeed you have
also been enabled to love your creator. You are a servant of the Lord and a freedman of
the Lord. Do not go looking for a liberation which will lead you from the house of your
liberator!” (St. Augustine, commenting on Psalm 100. Enarration in Psalmium).
Lay People: “Persons of the world for the world” (John Henry Newman).
“One can love the difficulties of this world for the sake of eternal rewards” (St. Gregory
the Great).
“Origin, subject and purpose of social institutions should be the human person.”
(Gaudium et Spes, n.25)
Christian faith has “consoling certainty, source of profound humanity and extraordinary
simplicity.” (John Paul II, Veritatis Splendor)
Law “Enlivened by grace and made to serve it in a harmonious and fruitful combination.
Each element preserved it s characteristics without change or confusion. In a divine
matter, he turned what could be burdensome and tyrannical into what is easy to bear and
a source of freedom.” (St Andrew of Crete, Oration I).
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness and to walk
humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
“One cannot have God as a father who doesn’t have the Church as a mother.” (St.
Cyprian of Carthage, De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate 6 CCL 3, 253, St Augustine, In Ps
88, Sermo 2,14: (CL 39, 1244))
“The glory of God is man fully alive; but the life of man is the vision of God.” St. Iraneus
of Lyon, Adversus haereses, IV, 20, 7: SC 100/2, 648.
“Love of truth, sought with humility, is one of the greatest values capable of reuniting the
men of today though the various cultures.” (John Paul II speech, Geneva 1982)
“The Church holds that economic, social and political issues cannot be properly
approached unless the transcendental dimension of the human person is taken into
account.” (Pontifical Council Cor Unum: World Hunger A challenge for all: development
in solidarity).
“Memory is the moral tutor of mankind” (BBC Radio on 60th anniversary of liberation of
Auschwitz).
“Perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
Church is the “greatest religious and political nation known to history” (Karl Adam, The
spirit of Catholicism).
“I will give you shepherds after my own heart” (on priesthood, Jeremiah 3:15)
“The spousal dimension of the priest as pastor will help him guide his community in
service to each and every one of its members, enlightening their consciences with the
light of revealed truth, wisely guarding the evangelical authenticity of the Christian life,
correcting errors, forgiving, curing the sick, consoling the afflicted, and promoting
fraternity.” (footnote 174, n. 55 Congregation for the clergy, Directory on the ministry
and life of priests).
“I am never less alone than as when I am alone” (St Ambrose, footnote 126,
Congregation for the clergy, directory on the ministry and life of priests).
“The body, in fact, and it alone, is capable of making visible what is invisible: the
spiritual and the divine, it was created to transfer into the visible reality of the world the
mystery hidden since time immorial in God, and thus be a sign of it.” ( John Paul II, man
a subject of truth and love, part of theology of body series, L’Osservatore Romano Feb
25, 1980, vol 13, no.8, no. 19), (quoted in defending the family, a sourcebook ed. Paul C
Vitz and Stephen M Krason 1998, The Catholic Social Science Press).
The human person “is the kind of good which does not admit of use and cannot be treated
as an object of use and as such the means to an end.” (John Paul II, Love and
Responsibility, New York 1981, Farrar Stars Liroux, p41).
“The most intimate and intense human relationship of love is marriage: the partnership of
life and love” (Gaudiem et Spes, n.48).
“Love is the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being.” (Familiaris
Consortio, n.11)
“True religion is a life hidden in the heart, not egoistical introspection” (Newman).
“Silence is the cross on which we must crucify our ego” (St. Seraphim of Sarov)
“First step of pride is curiousity.” (St Bernard of Clairvaux on steps of pride and humility,
quoted in The love that keeps us sane, living the little way of St. Therese of Liseux,
Paulist Press, New York, 1987, ed. Marc Foley).
“God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7)
“To cheat oneself out of love is the most terrible deception, it is an eternal loss for which
there is no separation, either in time or eternity.” (Kierkegard)
“If there is harmony in the heart, there will be harmony in the family. If there is harmony
in the family, there will be harmony in the nation. If there is harmony in the nation, there
will be harmony in the world.” (Confucius, Chinese wisdom BC). (quoted in back to
virtue, Peter Kreeft, Traditional moral wisdom for modern moral confusion, 1992,
Ignatius, San Franscico).
“Spiritual vices clearly link to one another, one springs from another.” (Pope Gregory the
great, Moralia XXXI, 45)
“There are three types of people in the world: those who have sought God and have found
him and serve him, those who are seeking him but have not yet found him, those who
neither seek him nor find him. The first are reasonable and happy, The second reasonable
and unhappy, the third unreasonable and unhappy.” (Pascal, the great philosopher).
“Sow a thought, reap and act. Sow an act reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow
a character, reap a destiny.” (Eastern philosophy, Buddha)
“The sacredness of human life: whoever touches human life enters into the reserved
domain of what belongs to the divine, and the doctor's profession is thus not just any
occupation, but a sacred one in a very deep sense. Sacredness implies ethical duty — i.e.,
it excludes the objectification of the person, who never becomes a thing available for
purposes different from himself, but is always sacred. …….. The more we begin to
advance today on down to the deepest sources of human life, the more urgent and
indispensable awareness of this sacredness of the medical art becomes. Purely technical,
utilitarian action would eventually lead to the self-destruction of human dignity.” (Joseph
Cardinal Ratzinger, Questions on Bioethics posed for the Church 1991 found on
Catholicculture.org, Reflection on Dolentium Hominum p10-15).
“When the state claims the power to regulate family bonds and emits laws that do not
respect this natural community, which is prior to the state, it is feared that the state may
make use of families in its own interests, and instead of protecting them and defending
their rights, it will weaken or destroy them in order to dominate peoples.” (Aristotle noted
that Aristotle that the family is prior and superior to the state (Nicomachean Ethics, Ch
VIII, no. 15-20). John Paul reaffirmed concept of the sovereignty of the family (cf.
Grtissimam Sane, n.17) Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human
Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo. Footnote 54.
“To defend the sovereignty of the family is to contribute to the sovereignty of nations.”
(Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.72)
“The communications media propagate the total separation of the unitative and
procreative purposes of the conjugal union and trivialize pre and para-marital sexual
experiences, thereby weakening the family institution.” (Pontifical Council for the
Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo,
n.72)
“Broken and marginalized families, through which children suffer very much, generate
poverty and marginalization.” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human
Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.72)
“Liberal individualism exalted together with a subjectivist ethic encourages the unbridled
search for pleasure, causing the family to suffer.” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The
Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.74)
“Was it not through a family, the family of Nazareth, that the Son of God chose to enter
into human history?” (Pontifical Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights,
Presented by Alfonso Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, n.75, cf. John Paul II, Apostolic letter
Tertio Millennio Adveniente, n.28).
The Beijing Conference 1995, presumed to introduce the “gender ideology” into the
culture of peoples. The ideology affirms among other things that the greatest form of
oppression is man’s oppression of women, and that this is institutionalized in
monogamous marriage….. According to this ideology, men and women’s roles in society
would be merely the product of history and culture, and people are free to choose their
sexual orientation, regardless of their biological sex. (------What utter tosh---- Pontifical
Council for the Family, The Family and Human Rights, Presented by Alfonso Cardinal
Lopez Trujillo, n.75, footnote 66).
“There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of human policy so well
deserving of examination as the Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins
together the two great ages of human civilization. No other institution is left standing
which carries the mind back to the times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the
Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers bounded in the Flavian amphitheater. The
proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when compared with the line of the Supreme
Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from the Pope who crowned
Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the eighth; and far
beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of fable.
The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern
when compared with the Papacy; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy
remains. The Papacy remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of life and
youthful vigor. The Catholic Church is still sending forth to the farthest ends of the world
missionaries as zealous as those who landed in Kent with Augustine, and still confronting
hostile kings with the same spirit with which she confronted Attila.... Nor do we see any
sign which indicates that the term of her long dominion is approaching. She saw the
commencement of all the governments and of all the ecclesiastical establishments that
now exist in the world; and we feel no assurance that she is not destined to see the end of
them all. She was great and respected before the Saxon had set foot on Britain, before the
Frank had passed the Rhine, when Grecian eloquence still flourished at Antioch, when
idols were still worshipped in the temple of Mecca. And she may still exist in
undiminished vigor when some traveler from New Zealand shall, in the midst of a vast
solitude, take his stand on a broken arch of London Bridge to sketch the ruins of St.
Paul's?" (the great English historian McCauley, Essay on L. von Ranke's "History of the
Popes." quoted in Karl Adam, The spirit of Catholicism, ch.1, introductory, footnote 9).
"This is the most divine work by God and the one most worthy of the King of the
Universe: to bring healing to humanity" (Clement of Alexandria, Paed. 1, 12, 100ff)
“By allowing the rights of the weakest to be violated, the state also allows the law of
force to prevail over the force of law.” Cardinal Ratzinger Addresses the Problem of
Threats to Human Life, An address to the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals
discussing the challenges faced by today's war on life, the reasons for the logic of death
and some possible responses. L'Osservatore Romano, Vatican, April 8, 1991
“No one in the world can change Truth. What we can and should do is to seek Truth and
serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is within. Beyond armies of occupation
and the hecatombs of the extermination camps, two irreconcilable enemies lie in the
depths of every soul. And of what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are
defeated in our innermost personal selves?”(Saint Maximilian Kolbe)
“The Physician should and may do nothing else but preserve life. Whether it is valuable
or not, that is none of his business. If he once permits such considerations to influence his
actions, the doctor will become the most dangerous person in the state.” (Wilhelm
Hufeland, 1806).
“If a man loses reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all life.” (Dr.
Albert Schweitzer).
Conscience is the “coming of divine precept to man.” (Q. xvii, A.4 ad.2, St. Thomas
Aquinas)
“Charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith.” (1 Tim 1,5)-
Ascesticism, self control.
“He that is without a wife is solicitous for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may
please God. But he that is with a wife is solicitous for the things of the world, how he
may please his wife.” (1 Cor, 7:32-3).
“Celibacy derives its meaning, its power and its serious purpose from the apostolate,
from resolute self surrender to Christ and his kingdom. The love and care which a
married man gives to the restricted circle of his family, are given by the priest and monk
to their Lord and master, and to the thousands of souls entrusted to them by the Lord, to
the sick, to children and to sinners. So the priest’s personality becomes richer and deeper,
the more he sacrifices himself and gives himself to others.” (Karl Adam, The Spirit of
Catholicism, Chapter 12).
We can speak of God only by comparisons. (Wisdon 13:5- “For from the greatness and
the beauty of created things their original author, by analogy, is seen.”)
"Prayer leads to faith, faith leads to love, love leads to service and service leads to joy."
(Mother Theresa)
Ample empirical evidence that the 3 facets of the syndrome of an existencial vacuum-
depression, aggression and addiction give a sense of emptiness and meaningless. (Victor
Frankl, Man’s search for meaning, Pocket Books, 1985, p166)
“live as if you were living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as
you are about to act now.” (method of Logotherapy). (Victor Frankl, Man’s search for
meaning, Pocket Books, 1985, p175)
Fr. Maurizio Faggioni O.F.M., theologian and moralist, pointed "health is not simply an
absence of disease, but the harmony and integration of all individual, physical, mental
and spiritual energies towards a life project that is particular to each individual." (Vatican
Information Service email 17/2/05, on Pontifical Academy for life meeting 21-3 Feb,
2005).
Dr. Manfred Lutz, a neurologist, psychiatrist and member of the academy for life, "today
we live in the age of the real existence of the religion of health. ... Health, goodness, like
almost everything in our society, is seen as a product that can be manufactured." (Vatican
Information Service email 17/2/05, on Pontifical Academy for life meeting 21-3 Feb,
2005).
On the authority of God who reveals himself to us, by faith we believe that which cannot
be grasped by our human faculties (cf. Catechism, no. 1381).
St. Bonaventure: "There is no difficulty over Christ's being present in the sacrament as in
a sign; the great difficulty is in the fact that He is really in the sacrament, as He is in
heaven. And so believing this is especially meritorious" (In IV Sent., dist. X, P. I, art. un.,
qu. I).
"It is the law of friendship that friends should live together. . . . Christ has not left us
without his bodily presence in this our pilgrimage, but he joins us to himself in this
sacrament in the reality of his body and blood" (St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae,
III q. 75, a. 1).
"If you want peace, work for justice." (Pope Paul VI, "Message of His Holiness Pope
Paul VI for the Celebration of the [World] Day of Peace," January 1, 1972).
“Yes, let us give time to Christ, that he may cast light upon it and give it direction… Time
given to Christ is never time lost, but is rather time gained.” (John Paul II, Dies Domini)
Prayer: “Lord give me this crown: you know how I have loved you with all my heart and
all my life. I will be happy to see you and you will give me rest… I want to preserve
heroically in my vocation, filling with fortitude the task assigned to me and setting an
example to all your people in the east…. I will receive the life that knows no suffering,
apprehension or anguish, that know neither persecutor or persecuted, oppressor or
oppressed, tyrant nor victim. There I will no longer see the imitation of kings, the terror
of prefects or anyone who cites me at the tribunal and frightens me more and more, or
who entices and terrifies me. O path of all pilgrims, my sore feet will be healed in you: in
the weariness of my limbs will find rest, Chrism of our anointing. In you the cap of our
anointing. In you, the cup of our salvation, will the sorrow and joy, the tears of my eyes
be wiped away.” (prayer attributed to Simeon, the Catholicos of seleucia-Ctesiphon in
Persia, before dying a martyr with many companions during persecutions of King Shapur
II: (A. Hamman, Preshiere dei primi Cristiani, Milan, 1955, p80-1), quoted in the
Observatore Romano, n3, 19 January 2005.
“The two elements of the spiritual life are the purgation of heart and the direction of the
holy spirit. There you have the two poles of all spirituality. By these two ways one arrives
at perfection according to the degree of purity one has acquired, and in proportion to the
fidelity one has had in co-operating with the movements of the holy spirit and following
his conduct. Our whole perfection depends upon this fidelity and one could say that the
abridgement of the spiritual life consists in attending to these two ways, the movement of
the spirit of God in our souls, and the strengthening of our will in the resolution to follow
them, using to that end all the disciplines of prayer, reading, the sacraments, the practice
of virtues and good works.” (Louis Lallement, A seventeenth century Jesuit, Doctrine
Spirituelle IV, 2, Art. 1,)
“The advancement of the poor constitutes a great opportunity for the moral, cultural and
even economic growth of all humanity.” (John Paul II, Centimus Annus, n.28)
“Progress must ensure that the roles of men and women are preserved without driving a
wedge between then and without feminizing men or masculinising women.” (Pontifical
Council Cor Unum, world hunger, a challenge for all, development in solidarity cf.
Mulieris Dignitatem n.6-7, Christifideles Laici n.50)
“All too often, the fruits of scientific progress, rather than being placed at the service of
the entire community, are distributed in such a way that unjust inequalities are actually
increased or even rendered permanent (…) The Catholic Church has consistently taught
that there is a “social mortgage” on all private property, a concept which today may also
be applied to intellectual property and to knowledge. The law of profit alone cannot be
applied to that which is essential, for the fight against hunger, disease and poverty.” (John
Paul II, 23/9/99, Address to delegation of Jubilee 2000 debt program).
“I will give them a new heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove the stony
heart from their bodies, and replace it with a natural heart, so that they will live according
to my statutes, and observe and carry out my ordinances; thus they shall be my people
and I will be their God.” (Ezekiel 11:19-20)
“The normal purgation and healing, whether of the body or the soul, occurs little by little,
by progressing from improvement to improvement, haltingly and without haste. The
angels on Jacob’s ladder have wings and yet they do not fly, but they go up and down in a
regular way from one step to another. The soul that climbs up again from sin to devotion
is like the dawn which, when it comes, does not drive away the shadows in an instance,
but little by little.” (St Francis of Sales, Introduction to the devout life, 1.5)
“The right kind of self love is that of someone who feels that he must care for himself for
the sake of another, and it is the very opposite of the rapacious purely self seeking love of
someone who feels fundamentally insecure.” (Aelred Squire, Asking the fathers, SPCK,
USA, 1973, p168)
“The most serious danger to humanity on its present course is that it should finally forget
the essential thing, that is, its spiritual concentration, faced as it is by the cosmic
discoveries made for it by science, and by the collective power revealed to it by social
organization. For does not the secularist neo-religion strive, in its confused fashion, to
represent the deity as a sort of diffusive energy, or even as a heartless and shapeless super
society? At this dangerous stage, that threatens the existence of souls, it is, I suppose,
Christianity which will, and can, intervene, to bring back human hopes and desires to the
only path which conforms to the fundamental laws of being and of life. Until quite
recently it could be held that nothing was so unfashionable, so anthropomorphic, as the
Christian’s personal God. Yet now, in what was apparently the most outworn, yet the
most fundamental, of its tenets, the Christian Gospel discovers that it has become the
most relevant of religions. Christianity, faced by humanity that faces a risk of allowing
that consciousness which has already been awakened in it by the developments of
modern life to be absorbed in the second matter of philosophical determinisms and social
techniques, upholds the primacy of reflective, that is personalized, thought. And it does
so in the most effective way of all: not only by a speculative defence, through its
teaching, of the possibility of a consciousness which is at the same time central and
universal, but still more by conveying and developing through its mysticism the meaning
and, in some sort, the direct intuition of this centre of total convergence. The very least
that an unbeliever must admit today, If he understands the biological condition of the
world, is that the figure of Christ (not only as it is described in a book, but as it is
concretely realized in the Christian consciousness) is the most perfect approximation yet
achieved of a final object towards which the universal effort of mankind may tend
without fear of weariness of deformation.
Thus, contrary to current notions, it is by its dogma as well as by its moral system that
Christianity is human and can be called upon once more to save the world in the
immediate future… (Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Christianity and Personalism, La Crise
Presente, Reflexions d’un naturaliste, in Etudes, Oct 20, 1937, p164)
The Church universal is a hospital for sinners far more than it is a penthouse for self-
proclaimed saints. (David Morrison, www.godspy.com)
"It is to be feared that the man, growing used to the employment of anti-conceptive
practices, may finally lose respect for the woman and, no longer caring for her physical
and psychological equilibrium, may come to the point of considering her as a mere
instrument of selfish enjoyment, and no longer as his respected and beloved companion"
(Paul VI, Humanae Vitae, #17).
“Atheism by its very nature must believe that one’s entire existence is purely based on a
cosmological fluke. Similarly life beyond death would entail a similar event. But the
problem is that without the Creator the creature disappears.” (Robert Colquhoun, 22/2/05,
with acknowledgements to Gaudiem et Spes n.36).
“If the human soul was anything less than immortal, then nihilism would be the only
coherent philosophy available to man because it fully realizes the hopelessness,
pointlessness and utter void of meaning of human existence. God has ensured that
through the death and resurrection of his son, human existence has full meaning, that
humanism is rationalized through a love for God and man has faith, love and hope.”
(Robert Colquhoun, 22/2/05)
“The incompleteness of human justice and human satisfaction are in fact evidence for the
eternal, the universal and the transcendent. The incompleteness of earthly justice in fact
indicates that justice could only ever be a viable principle, eternal and metaphysical
through the intervention and action of God. Therefore justice can only exist if God
exists.” (Robert Colquhoun, 22/2/05).
“The dignity of the person is manifested in all its radiance when the person’s origin and
destiny are considered: created by God in his image and likeness as well as redeemed by
the most precious blood of Christ, the person is called to be a ‘child in the Son’ and a
living temple of the Spirit, destined for eternal life of blessed communion with God. For
this very reason every violation of the personal dignity of the human being cries out in
vengeance to God and is an offense against the Creator of the individual.” (John Paul II,
Christifideles Laici, n. 37)
Finally, true freedom is not advanced in the permissive society, which confuses freedom
with license to do anything whatever, and which, in the name of freedom, proclaims a
kind of general amorality. It is a caricature of freedom to claim that people are free to
organize their lives with no reference to moral values, and to say that society does not
have to ensure the protection and advancement of ethical values. Such an attitude is
destructive of freedom and peace. (John Paul II, World Day of Peace Message, 1981, n.
7)
Church holds “It is unlawful for her to mix without cause in these temporal concerns.”
(Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio n.65)
“Man’s true identity is revealed to him through faith.” (Centismus Annus n.54)
“We are only co-workers, and when we have done all that we can, we must say: ‘we are
unworthy servants; we have done out duty.’(Lk 17:10)” (Redemtoris Missio n.36).
“Every fundamental human right draws it indestructible moral force from the natural
law.” (Pacem in Terris, n.30).
“Conscience bears witness to the transcendence of the person.” (World day of Peace
message, 1991, n.1).
"ethical relativism is one of the greatest risks for current democracies" because it denies
"objective and universal criteria for establishing the basis for and correct hierarchy of
values." "moral and institutional crisis that historical democracies are going through,"
including "absolute individualism, materialism, hedonism, ethical indifference and the
prevalence of acquisitive and competitive economic logic." (VATICAN CITY, MAR 8,
2005 (VIS) - Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and
Peace)
"Ultimate meaning necessarily exceeds and surpasses the finite intellectual capacities of
man...we speak in this context of a super-meaning. What is demanded of man is not, as
some existential philosophers teach, to endure the meaninglessness of life, but rather to
bear his incapacity to grasp its unconditional meaningfulness in rational terms." (Victor
Frankl)
“EVIL- I don’t think of it as profound. I think of it as a kind of fungus, shallow but very
deadly.” (Hannah Arendt).
Cardinal Ratzinger, in his homily, noted that the Easter vigil procession, behind the
candle and towards light, symbolizes "the path of humanity who, in the nights of history,
seeks light, seeks paradise, seeks true life, reconciliation among peoples, ... and universal
peace." "Christ is light; Christ is the way, the truth and the life; following Christ ... we
find the just path. ... Following Christ means above all being attentive to His word. ...
Man does not live by bread alone or by money or by career, he lives by the word of God,
which corrects us, renews us, shows us the true sustaining values of the world and of
society. The word of God is the true manna, the bread from heaven which teaches us life,
how to be men and women." "Following Christ, means having compassion for the
suffering, a heart for the poor; it means having the courage to defend our faith against
ideologies; having trust in the Church and her interpretation and enactment of the divine
Word for our current circumstances, Following Christ means loving His Church, His
Mystical Body. Going forth in this manner we become little lights in the world, we
destroy the darkness of history." (JPII-HOLY WEEK/EASTER
VIGIL/RATZINGER VIS 050330 (470)) (Ratzinger and JP2 Easter 2005)
“Loving the Lord means life to you, and length of days” (Deutoronomy 30:20) i.e.
Longevity is a divine gift.
“All ministerial work, must begin with prayer” (St Albert the great, Commentary on
mystical theology, 15)
Eucharist is “Daily viaticum and source of the spiritual life for the individual and for the
institute.” (Vita Consecrata n.95)
“The family, or more precisely, the stable and lasting union of a man and a woman,
appears first of all to be the most natural and suitable way of guaranteeing procreation,
hence, the renewal of generations; for economic growth demands a minimum of
demographic dynamism that passes through reproduction, which in turn guarantees the
replacement of generations.” . …… “…..as for the formation of human development, the
family appears indispensable to human development.”…… “Family policy, on the
contrary, must permit lasting economic development: it should not aim to suppress the
family.” (Archbishop Migliore, 6 Dec 2004, 59th Assembly of United Nations)
“The sacred is what has been removed from its natural good, in order to be dedicated and
referred to its supernatural good” (theologian M.D. Chence)
“As Europe loses its Christian identity and belief in God, it becomes vulnerable to
corrosive socio-political maladies.” (Samuel Gregg/John Paul II Ecclesia in Europa)
“Europe’s Judaeo- Christian heritage, (can) make society more law abiding, contract
fulfilling, transparent, honest and coherent.” (in other words great for business) (Samuel
Gregg, Acton Institute)
“What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light, what you hear whispered, proclaim
on the housetops.” (Mt 10:27)
“I have conquered the world.” (Jesus Christ, Jn 16:33 – victory over death and evil)
“Human Dignity is what distinguishes the human person from any other living being”
(L’osservatore Romano).
“Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make me a tree.” (Joyce Kilmer).
“God instituted prayer in order to give to his creatures the dignity of being causes.”
(Pascal)
“Sin is the Christian dogma you can prove by reading the daily newspaper” (Chesterton)
“Christ’s inexpressible grace gave us blessings, better than the demon’s envy had taken
away.” (St Leo the Great, Sermo, 73, 4, PL: 54, 396)
“O happy fault…. Which gained for us so great a redeemer.” (St. Thomas Aquinas:
Summa Th 3,1,3, ad 3) (cf. Rom 5:20)
-“We (men and women) have been created like eagles that sour toward the sun, and we
must not diminish ourselves to behave like chickens that do nothing but peck at grain
scattered on the ground.”
-“neither women nor man can oppose nature without being unhappy. A separation from
biology frees neither, rather it is a path that leads to forms of pathology for both.”
(L’osservatore Romano).
“Not only do we only know God through Jesus Christ, but we only know ourselves
through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ; we only know life and death through Jesus
Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ we cannot know the meaning of our life or our death, of
God or of ourselves.” (Pensees 417)
“He whom the world could not contain was contained in the mother’s womb.” (St.
Augustine)
“To speak of man’s search for God is like speaking of the mouses’ search for the cat.”
(CS Lewis, Surprised by Joy).
Truth and tolerance Christianity belief and world religions (Cardinal Jospeh Ratzinger,
Ignatius press, 2003)
“Every sin has not quite extinguished in the heart of man the capacity to recognize the
voice of God.” (p99)
Xty broke down the dividing wall (eph. 2:14) between Judaism and universalism. (p155)
Science becomes a pathological threat to life (fetus, cloning) when it takes leave of the
moral order of human life, becomes autonomous and no longer recognizes any standards
but its own capabilities.” (p158)
When philosophy blanks out dialogue with faith, it ends – as Jaspers once expressed it- in
a seriousness that is becoming empty (p208)
Cardinal Ratzinger, in his homily, noted that the Easter vigil procession, behind the
candle and towards light, symbolizes "the path of humanity who, in the nights of history,
seeks light, seeks paradise, seeks true life, reconciliation among peoples, ... and universal
peace." "Christ is light; Christ is the way, the truth and the life; following Christ ... we
find the just path. ... Following Christ means above all being attentive to His word. ...
Man does not live by bread alone or by money or by career, he lives by the word of God,
which corrects us, renews us, shows us the true sustaining values of the world and of
society. The word of God is the true manna, the bread from heaven which teaches us life,
how to be men and women." "Following Christ, means having compassion for the
suffering, a heart for the poor; it means having the courage to defend our faith against
ideologies; having trust in the Church and her interpretation and enactment of the divine
Word for our current circumstances, Following Christ means loving His Church, His
Mystical Body. Going forth in this manner we become little lights in the world, we
destroy the darkness of history." (JPII-HOLY WEEK/EASTER
VIGIL/RATZINGER VIS 050330 (470)) (Ratzinger and JP2 Easter 2005)
Let me consider a few of these venial sins: spiritual laziness preventing me from raising
heart to thee; inordinate affection for creatures; haste and impatience; nursing a
grievance, fickleness, effeminacy, love of ease; readiness to speak of other people’s faults
without any reason; dissipation, curiousity having no relation to the glory of God;
talkativeness, tattling, vain and rash judgements about my neighbour; vain self
complacency; contempt of others; criticism of their conduct; looking for admiration and
praise and doing things for these motives; showing off what is to my advantage;
presumption, obstinacy, jealously, lack of respect for authority, grousing; want of
motification in eating and drinking etc. What a swarm of venial sins or at least of
deliberate imperfections may invade my soul and deprive me of the abundant
graceswhich thou didst reserve for me from all eternity.
Soul of the Apostolate, p215-6, Dom Chautard, O.C.R., revised edm 1959, Burns and
Oates (London).
“No work takes deep root, or is really solid and lasting, unless the apostle has created the
interior life in other souls. Now he cannot do this, unless he himself is well nourished in
his interior life.”
Soul of the Apostolate, p117, Dom Chautard, O.C.R., revised edm 1959, Burns and Oates
(London).
Basilea Schlink
May nothing be dearer to me than you, may nothing concern me more than You, may
nothing but Your suffering cause me to mourn, may nothing but You elate my heart, may
nothing make me sad but Your suffering for my sins. You alone are the One upon who are
centred my thoughts, feeling, wishes and desires. Jesus Jesus Jesus – only you!
Because you have asked me, my brother John, most dear to me in Christ, how
to set about acquiring the treasure of knowledge, this is the advice I pass
on to you: That you should choose to enter by the small rivers, and not go
right away into the sea, because you should move from easy things to
difficult things.