Saturday, December 31, 2016

QUOTATION: Human Life

Pope Benedict XVI
God’s love does not distinguish between the infant in the mother’s womb or the child or the youth or the adult or the older person. In each one God sees his image and likeness. Human life is a manifestation of God and his glory.


--Pope Benedict XVI

Friday, December 30, 2016

QUOTATION: Chastity

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
The more a person lives in the presence of God, the more he develops a reflex against the wrong use of sex, as automatic as the way an eye blinks when the dust blows.

--Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of Soul, 1949

Thursday, December 29, 2016

QUOTATION: How God's Mercy Works...

St. Alphonsus Liguori
God pardons sin; but He will not pardon the will to sin.


--St. Alphonsus Liguori

Wednesday, December 28, 2016

QUOTATION: Contemplation

St. Thomas Aquinas
For even as it is better to enlighten than merely to shine, so is it better to give to others the fruits of one's contemplation than merely to contemplate.

--St. Thomas Aquinas: Summa Theologica, II-II, Q. 188, A. 6.

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

QUOTATION: Clerical Authority

Cardinal Marc Ouellet
We can’t not exercise the service of authority: leave everything be, not intervene, not speak the truth which can hurt but which clarifies and helps us to get back up. We then leave people in confusion for fear of hurting them or speaking a truth that is not at all popular and which goes against the ambient culture. This applies to bishops, priests and pastors. It is a greater charity to communicate a truth that alienates a person from us for a time, a time during which he can come to realize that we acted in his favour.


--Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Actualité et avenir du Concile oecuménique Vatican II

Monday, December 26, 2016

QUOTATION: Worldly Poverty, Wealth in Christ

Mother Teresa of Calcutta


To the world, it’s seem foolish that we delight in poor food, that we relish rough and insipid bulgur (wheat); possess only three sets of habits made of coarse cloth or old soutanes (cassocks) mend and patch them, take great care of them and refuse to have extra; enjoy walking in any shape and color of shoes; bathe with just a bucket of water in small bathing rooms; sweat and perspire but refuse to have a fan; go hungry and thirsty but refuse to eat in the houses of the people; refuse to have radios or gramophones, which could be relaxing to the racked nerves after the whole day’s hard toil; walk distances in the rain and hot summer sun, or go cycling, travel by second-class tram, or third class overcrowded trains; sleep on hard beds, giving up soft and thick mattresses which would be soothing to the aching bodies after the whole day’s hard work; kneel on the rough and thin carpets in the chapel, giving up soft and thick ones; delight in lying in the common wards in the hospital among the poor of Christ, when we could easily have private cabins; work like coolies at home and outside when we could easily employ servants and do only the light jobs; relish cleaning the toilets and dirt as though that was the most beautiful job in the world and call it a tribute to God. To some we are wasting our precious life and burying our talents. Yes, our lives are utterly wasted if we use only the light of reason. Our life has no meaning unless we look at Christ in his poverty. Our beautiful work with and for the poor is a privilege and a gift for us. I think that if we go to the poor with that love, with only the desire to give God to them, to bring the joy of Christ (which is our strength) into their homes, if they look at us and see Jesus and his love and compassion in us, I think the world will soon be full of peace and love.


--Mother Teresa of Calcutta, No Greater Love.

Sunday, December 25, 2016

QUOTATION: The Incarnation

St. Alphonsus Liguori
The Son of God has made himself little, in order to make us great.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ 

Saturday, December 24, 2016

QUOTATION: Christ's Poverty

St. Alphonsus Liguori
It decreed by God that the edict of Caesar should come forth; namely, that his Son should not only be born poor, but the poorest of men, causing him to be born away from his own house, in a cave which was inhabited only by animals. Other poor people, who are born in their own houses, have certainly more comforts in the way of clothes, of fire, and the assistance of persons who lend their aid, even if it is out of compassion. What son of a poor person was ever born in a stable? In a stable only beasts are born.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Incarnation, Birth and Infancy of Jesus Christ

Friday, December 23, 2016

QUOTATION: Freedom

Pope Benedict XVI
The freedom of a human being is the freedom of a limited being, and therefore is itself limited. We can possess it only as a shared freedom, in the communion of freedom: only if we live in the right way, with one another and for one another, can freedom develop.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 2005

Thursday, December 22, 2016

QUOTATION: Perspectives on the Afterlife

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
A child who is given a ball and told that it is the only ball he will ever have in his life cannot enjoy it much because he is overfearful of losing it. Another child, told that if he is good he will be given another ball, one that will never wear out and will give him unending pleasure, need not be fearful of losing the first. So it is with the man who has only one world, in contrast to the Christian. Even in the enjoyment of life the first man walks in fear of its end. His very pleasures are shadowed by death. But the man who believes in a future life, conditioned by morality, has the great advantage of being able to be happy in this world, as well as in the next.


--Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of Soul, 1949

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

QUOTATION: Truth and Love

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Truth without love is bitter and can drive the wounded away; and “love” without truth isn’t love at all, but a comfortable form of lying.

--Archbishop Charles J. Chaput.

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

QUOTATION: Trials

Pope St. John Paul II
We must be prepared to undergo great trials in the not-too-distant future; trials that will require us to be ready to give up even our lives, and a total gift of self to Christ and for Christ. Through your prayers and mine, it is possible to alleviate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it... How many times has the renewal of the Church been brought about in blood! It will not be different this time.

--Pope St. John Paul II

Monday, December 19, 2016

QUOTATION: Rejecting Christianity

Blessed John Henry Newman
I consider the rejection of Christianity to arise from a fault of the heart, not of the intellect; that unbelief arises, not from mere error of reasoning, but either from pride or from sensuality.

--Blessed John Henry Newman

Sunday, December 18, 2016

QUOTATION: Dress

St. Cyprian of Carthage
The dress of the body should not discredit the good of the soul.

--St. Cyprian of Carthage

Saturday, December 17, 2016

QUOTATION: Mystery

Blessed Niels Stensen
Beautiful is what we see, more beautiful what we know, but by far the most beautiful is what we do not know.

--Blessed Niels Stensen, 17th century scientist and priest.

Friday, December 16, 2016

QUOTATION: Complaining

St. Alphonsus Liguori
Certainly the virtue is greater, if, in times of sickness, we do not complain of our sufferings; but when these press heavily upon us, it is not a fault to make them known to our friends, or even to pray to God to liberate us from them. I am speaking now of sufferings that are severe; for, on the other hand, there are many who are very faulty in this, that on every trifling pain or weariness they would have the whole world come to compassionate them, and to shed tears around them.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Way of Salvation and Perfection

Thursday, December 15, 2016

QUOTATION: Chastity

A chaste man is someone who has driven out bodily love by means of divine love, who has used heavenly fire to quench the fires of the flesh.

--St. John Climacus

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

QUOTATION: Mary in Christ's Redemption

Cardinal Marc Ouellet
The fact that Mary, for example, is present at the foot of the cross means that she is associated, in the very act of Redemption, to the sacrifice of Christ by the expressed will of the Saviour who says to her “Woman, here is your son,” (Jn, 19:27) The Saviour asks of her to consent to his own sacrifice, and thus to his death, and in exchange for the acceptance of the death of her son--  which is Mary’s sacrifice—the mother of Christ is brought to accept humanity, symbolized by John, as her new son.

--Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Actualité et avenir du Concile oecuménique Vatican II

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

QUOTATION: Basic Training

Mother Teresa of Calcutta
There are those who assert that the medical training of the Missionaries of Charity is too rudimentary for people who care for the seriously ill. I know that. Our medical training is limited, but we try to offer assistance and care to those who, in most cases, have no one to give them even the most basic medical care. 

--Mother Teresa of Calcutta, No Greater Love

Sunday, December 11, 2016

QUOTATION: The Past and the Future

St. Francis de Sales
My past no longer concerns me. It belongs to Divine mercy. My future does not yet concern me. It belongs to Divine providence. What concerns me and what challenges me is today, which belongs to God’s grace and to the devotion of my heart and my good will.

--St. Francis de Sales

Saturday, December 10, 2016

QUOTATION: Unhappiness

Fulton J. Sheen
There is no surer formula for discontent than to try to satisfy our cravings for the ocean of Infinite Love from the teacup of finite satisfactions.

--Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Peace of Soul, 1949

Friday, December 9, 2016

QUOTATION: Hope

Pope Benedict XVI
Hope is practiced through the virtue of patience, which continues to do good even in the face of apparent failure, and through the virtue of humility, which accepts God’s mystery and trusts him even at times of darkness.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, 39

Thursday, December 8, 2016

QUOTATION: God Will Triumph

Pope St. John Paul II
Even if the forces of darkness appear to prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death, do not have the final say.

--Pope St. John Paul II

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

QUOTATION: Blog Evangelisation

Cardinal Camillo Ruini
Young religious ought to enter blogs and correct the opinions of the youth, showing them the true Jesus.

--Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar of Rome, Address to Union of Major Superiors of Italy, 2007.

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

QUOTATION: Defending the Unborn

Abby Johnson
The best thing you can do for the unborn is defend them with facts, science and logic. You won't ever lose.

--Abby Johnson

Monday, December 5, 2016

QUOTATION: Being Hated

St. Jerome
Thank God I am deemed worthy to be hated by the world.

--St. Jerome

Sunday, December 4, 2016

QUOTATION: Be Grateful for God's Gifts to Us

St. Alphonsus Liguori
If we have any natural defect either in mind or body, a bad memory, slowness of apprehension, mean abilities, a crippled limb, or weak health, let us not therefore make lamentation. What were our desserts, and what obligation had God to bestow upon us a mind more richly endowed, or a body more perfectly framed? Could he not have created us mere brute animals? Or have left us in our own nothingness? Who is there that ever receives a gift and tries to make bargains about it? Let us, then, return him thanks for what, through a pure act of his goodness, he has bestowed upon us; and let us rest content with the manner in which he has treated us.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Way of Salvation and Perfection

Saturday, December 3, 2016

QUOTATION: Possessions

Pope St. Gregory the Great
Be not anxious about what you have, but about what you are.

--Pope St. Gregory the Great

Friday, December 2, 2016

QUOTATION: Obtaining Heaven

St. Benoit Joseph Labre
God is so good and so merciful, that to obtain Heaven it is sufficient to ask it of Him from our hearts.

--St. Benoit Joseph Labre

Thursday, December 1, 2016

QUOTATION: May They All Be One!

Cardinal Marc Ouellet
Photo credit
This is precisely what struck me in returning to the prayer of Christ: He does not say “May they all be united” but “May they all be one.” (John 17:21).

--Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Actualité et avenir du Concile œcuménique de Vatican II, 2012

Wednesday, November 30, 2016

QUOTATION: Charity

Mother Teresa of Calcutta
In the world today there are those whose struggle is for justice and human rights. We have no time for this because we are in daily and continuous contact with people who are starving for a piece of bread and for some affection. Should I devote myself to the struggle for justice when the most needy people would die right in front of me for lack of a glass of milk?


--Mother Teresa of Calcutta, No Greater Love.

Tuesday, November 29, 2016

QUOTATION: Christian Teaching on Sexuality

Cardinal George Pell
The validity of Christian teaching on sexuality and marriage is demonstrated in the wounds of those who do not practice it.


--Cardinal George Pell, Test Everything, Hold Fast to What is Good

Monday, November 28, 2016

QUOTATION: Overcoming Hatred

Fulton J. Sheen
If, then, you bear a hatred toward anyone, overcome it by doing that person a favor.

--Fulton J. Sheen, Preface to Religion

Sunday, November 27, 2016

QUOTATION: Jesus is Freedom

Pope Benedict XVI
Jesus is the Pole Star of human freedom: without him it loses its sense of direction, for without the knowledge of the truth, freedom degenerates, becomes isolated and is reduced to sterile arbitration. With him, freedom is rediscovered, it is recognized to have been created for our good and is expressed in charitable actions and behavior.

--Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, February 10th, 2006

Saturday, November 26, 2016

QUOTATION: Never Deal with the Devil

In a Faustian bargain, the House always wins.

--Mark Shea

Friday, November 25, 2016

QUOTATION: Goodness

St. Thomas Aquinas
Goodness is rightly divided into the virtuous, the useful and the pleasant.

--St. Thomas Aquinas

Thursday, November 24, 2016

QUOTATION: Busy Yourself in Spiritual Things

St. Cyprian of Carthage
Persevere in labors that lead to salvation. Always be busy in spiritual actions. In this way, no matter how often the enemy of our souls approaches, no matter how many times he may try to come near us, he’ll find our hearts closed and armed against him.

--St. Cyprian of Carthage

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

QUOTATION: Confidence in God

St. Albert the Great
The greater and more persistent your confidence in God, the more abundantly you will receive what you ask.

--St. Albert the Great

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

QUOTATION: Conforming to God's Will

St. Alphonsus Liguori
In the first place, we must have this uniformity as regards those things of nature that come to us from without; as when there is great heat, great cold, rain, scarcity, pestilence, and the like. We must take care not to say, What intolerable heat! What horrible cold! What a misfortune! How unlucky! What wretched weather! Or other words expressive of repugnance to the will of God. We ought to will everything to be as it is, since God is he who orders it all.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Way of Salvation and Perfection

Monday, November 21, 2016

QUOTATION: Worldliness is Incompatible with Holiness

St. John ClimacusAs it is an impossibility, to have our eyes raised towards Heaven and fixed on the earth at -the same time, so is it impossible that a person who is attached to the things of earth should love those of Heaven.

--St. John Climacus

Sunday, November 20, 2016

QUOTATION: Politics

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput
Politics is never the main content of Christian faith. It can never provide perfect solutions. But no Christian can avoid the duty to work for more justice and charity in our life as a nation, a task that inescapably involves politics.

--Archbishop Charles Chaput, “There is no equivalence”, CatholicPhilly.com, August 10, 2015

Saturday, November 19, 2016

QUOTATION: The Dying

St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier
We should be as tender to the dying as we are to little children. We must take great care not to leave them alone; no one fears loneliness more than the dying.

--St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, Conferences and Instructions

Friday, November 18, 2016

QUOTATION: Self-Knowledge

Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Knowledge of self is very necessary for confession. This is why the saints could say they were wicked criminals. They saw God and then saw themselves, and they saw the difference.

--Mother Teresa of Calcutta, No Greater Love.

Thursday, November 17, 2016

QUOTATION: Dishonour and Persecution

St. Vincent de Paul
God, to procure His glory, sometimes permits that we should be dishonored and persecuted without reason. He wishes thereby to render us conformable to His Son, who was calumniated and treated as a seducer, as an ambitious man, and as one possessed.

 --St. Vincent de Paul

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

QUOTATION: Hatred

Fulton J. Sheen
America’s greatest enemy is not from without, but from within, and that enemy is hate: hatred of races, peoples, classes and religions. If America ever dies, it will be not through conquest but suicide.

--Fulton J. Sheen, Preface to Religion

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

QUOTATION: The Need for Rest

Pope Benedict XVI
Each one of us needs time and space for recollection, meditation and calmness.... Thanks be to God that this is so! In fact, this need tells us that we are not made for work alone, but also to think, to reflect or even simply to follow with our minds and our hearts a tale, a story in which to immerse ourselves, in a certain sense “to lose ourselves” to find ourselves subsequently enriched.

--Pope Benedict XVI

QUOTATION: False Freedom

Cardinal Marc Ouellet
Our culture, strongly influenced by the media, almost no longer believes in that deep and enduring love that is the foundation of the family’s stability. It presumes itself to be free and liberating, but it multiplies the phenomena of dependence: drug addiction, pornography, alcoholism, tobacco, superstition, fetishism, satanic cults, etc. We think ourselves free when we make love to any one, but the result is the failure of love and bitter disenchantment, which sometimes causes despair and even suicide. We avoid these ills by the mastery of self, chastity and prayer.

--Cardinal Marc Ouellet, “Rajeunir l’Église” (2003) reprinted in Dieu plus Merveilleux que les rêves, 2004.

Monday, November 14, 2016

QUOTATION: Tribulation

C.S. Lewis
God, who foresaw your tribulation, has specially armed you to go through it, not without pain but without stain.

--C.S. Lewis

Sunday, November 13, 2016

QUOTATION: Love

St. Teresa of Avila
Love is the measure of our ability to bear crosses.

--St. Teresa of Avila

Saturday, November 12, 2016

QUOTATION: The Gate of Heaven

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
The gate of heaven is very low; only the humble can enter it.

--St. Elizabeth Ann Seton