Because of our good Lord’s tender love to all those who who shall be saved, he quickly comforts them, saying, “The cause of all this pain is sin. But all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”
–Saint Julian of Norwich (1342-1416)
Religion is a guy in church thinking about fishing. Spirituality is a guy out fishing thinking about God.
–John Fischer (1947-
They alone know how to believe in God who love God, who are Christians not only in name but also in action and [way of] life, because without love faith is empty.
–Venerable Bede (c. 673-735)
Never leave prayer because of dryness or difficulty. Remain before God entirely plunged in His holy love, detached from all desire for your own pleasure. It might help to send out little darts of love, such as, `O my God, my true Good, I am yours!’ and then remain in peace.
–Saint Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
Sin arises when things that are a minor good are pursued as though they were the most important goals in life. If money or affection or power are sought in disproportionate, obsessive ways, then sin occurs. And that sin is magnified when, for these lesser goals, we fail to pursue the highest good and the finest goals. So when we ask ourselves why, in a given situation, we committed a sin, the answer is usually one of two things. Either we wanted to obtain something we didn’t have, or we feared losing something we had.
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
Christians must imitate Christ’s sufferings, not set their hearts on pleasures. He who is weak will be strengthened when told: “Yes, expect the temptations of this world, but the Lord will deliver you from them all if your heart has not abandoned him. For it was to strengthen your heart that he came to suffer and die, came to be spit upon and crowned with thorns, came to be accused of shameful things, yes, came to be fastened to the wood of the cross. All these things he did for you, and you did nothing. He did them not for himself, but for you.”
–Saint Augustine (354-430)
