Quotes for July 2005

Mental prayer is…

· 31 July 2005

Mental prayer in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us.

— St. Teresa of Avila

« πλ | Prayer »

God is not proud…

· 30 July 2005

God is not proud…He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him.

— C.S. Lewis [via]

« πλ | God, Pride »

A friend is…

· 29 July 2005

A friend is one who knows all about you and still likes you.

— Author unknown

« πλ | Friendship »

Pay Attention to Accidents

· 28 July 2005

Since you cannot do good to all, you are to pay special attention to those who by accidents of time, or place, or circumstance, are brought into closer connection with you.

— St. Augustine [via]

Kind of like coincidences…

« πλ | Grace »

But how can we love someone if we don’t like him?

· 27 July 2005

But how can we love someone if we don’t like him? Easy—we do it to ourselves all the time. We don’t always have tender, comfortable feelings about ourselves; sometimes we feel foolish, stupid, asinine, or wicked. But we always love ourselves: we always seek our own good. Indeed, we feel dislike toward ourselves, we berate ourselves, precisely because we love ourselves; because we care about our good, we are impatient with our bad. (emphasis added)

— Peter Kreeft [via]

« πλ | Love »

Encounter our own poverty…

· 26 July 2005

[As] long as we are not willing to encounter our own poverty, we will never meet the One Who lives in it.

— Fr. Matthew Kelty, from “Desolation Row”

« πλ | Humility »

In the geography of your own heart…

· 25 July 2005

The healing of the world does not begin in some far-off land that we must hasten to help, but in the geography of your own heart. There the sinner is washed in mercy and becomes thereby an instrument of mercy, not merely by his prayers, but in everything he does. For he is a vessel of grace. We cannot heal all the world’s problems, but we begin with our own heart if our help is to amount to anything.

— Fr. Matthew Kelty, from his homily “Begin in Your Own Heart”

« πλ | Grace, Mercy »

The sinful heart that has…

· 24 July 2005

The sinful heart that has accepted Christ’s mercy approaches another in quite a different mode than does the one foreign to it.

— Fr. Matthew Kelty, from his homily “Begin in Your Own Heart”

« πλ | Mercy »

Your hearts are small…

· 23 July 2005

My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of Heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the souls and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun.

— St. John Vianney [via]

« πλ | Prayer »

Ascend to the dwelling places we desire…

· 22 July 2005

In order to profit from this path [of prayer] and ascend to the dwelling places we desire, the important thing is not to think much but to love much; and so, do that which best stirs you to love.

— St. Teresa of Avila

« πλ | Love, Prayer »

Be constantly committed…

· 21 July 2005

Be constantly committed to prayer or to reading [Scripture]; by praying, you speak to God, in reading, God speaks to you.

— St. Cyprian of Carthage

« πλ | Prayer »

No longer fighting God…

· 20 July 2005

You’re no longer fighting God, trying to make Him do what you want. You’re accepting what happens, and your main prayer transforms into one that asks God for nothing more than understanding and perhaps strength to endure.

— Amy Welborn

« πλ | Prayer »

You’re here on your knees praying…

· 19 July 2005

You’re here, on your knees, praying as the seconds on your Mickey Mouse clock tick by, but in God’s time, you’re working with Him at the moment of creation, when there is no time.

— Amy Welborn

« πλ | Prayer »

At the feast of ego…

· 18 July 2005

At the feast of ego, everyone leaves hungry.

— Author unknown

« πλ | Humility »

We take ourselves as…

· 17 July 2005

We take ourselves as we are, and we take our brother as he is. Together with him we take a stand for love. And all the evidence to the contrary not withstanding: love is all that matters. It is only love that makes of Desolation Row a Glory Road. And Love is already there, because that is where He lives.

— Fr. Matthew Kelty, from “Desolation Row”

« πλ | Being, Love »

A comfortable falsehood…

· 16 July 2005

A comfortable falsehood will always win out over an uncomfortable truth.

— Author unknown

« πλ | Proverb »

Stepping stone…

· 15 July 2005

Each trial in our life, no matter how happy, sad, painful, or hard it may seem, is a stepping stone in our life. We must use these stepping stones one at a time to lead us to our final destination, HOME.

— Libby Saumur

« πλ | Joy, Suffering »

In the course of justice…

· 14 July 2005

Though justice be thy plea, consider this:
That in the course of justice none of us
Should see salvation. We do pray for mercy,
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy…

— William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

« πλ | Mercy »

Whoever flees prayer…

· 13 July 2005

Whoever flees prayer, flees all that is good!

— St. John of the Cross

« πλ | Prayer »

Look at Him…

· 12 July 2005

Look at Him while He is looking at you.

— St. Thérèse of Lisieux

« πλ | Prayer »

A cry of recognition and of love…

· 11 July 2005

For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.

— St. Thésèe of Lisieux

« πλ | Prayer »

Give me insight…

· 10 July 2005

Give me insight to observe your teaching,
to keep it with all my heart.

— Psalm 119:34

« πλ | Grace, Scripture »

A saint isn’t…

· 9 July 2005

A saint isn’t somebody who tries harder, but someone who trusts more.

— Peter Kreeft

« πλ | Saint »

Those who pray…

· 8 July 2005

We are always in the presence of God, yet it seems to me that those who pray are in His presence in a very different sense.

— St. Teresa of Avila

« πλ | Prayer »

True humility is…

· 7 July 2005

True humility is not an abject, groveling, self-despising spirit—it is but a right estimate of ourselves as God sees us.

— Tryon Edwards [via]

« πλ | Humility »

Do it for the good…

· 6 July 2005

Do it for the good, not for the goodies.

— Fr. John Libone [via]

« πλ | Humility, Prayer, Why »

The rare moment is…

· 5 July 2005

The rare moment is not the moment when there is something worth looking at, but the moment when we are capable of seeing.

— Joseph Wood Krutch

« πλ | Attitude »

The fear of loss is…

· 4 July 2005

The fear of loss is a path to the dark side. … Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is. Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.

— Yoda, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

And yet, still love and give of yourself…

« πλ | Detachment, Movie, Sin »

Death is…

· 3 July 2005

Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them, do not. Miss them, do not. Attachment leads to jealousy. The shadow of greed, that is.

— Yoda, Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith

And yet, never stop loving them…

« πλ | Detachment, Fear, Movie »

The difficult thing is to…

· 2 July 2005

People have fallen into the foolish habit of speaking of orthodoxy as something heavy, humdrum and safe. There never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy… It is always easy to let the age have its head; the difficult thing is to keep one’s own…

— G.K. Chesterton [via]

« πλ | Religion »

We take for granted the slow miracle…

· 1 July 2005

We take for granted the slow miracle whereby water in the irrigation of a vineyard becomes wine. It is only when Christ turns water into wine, in a quick motion, as it were, that we stand amazed.

— St. Augustine

« πλ | Faith, Miracle »