To enter into the realm of contemplation, one must in a certain sense die: but this death is in fact the entrance into a higher life. It is a death for the sake of life, which leaves behind all that we can know or treasure as life, as thought, as experience as joy, as being. [Every form of intuition and experience] die to be born again on a higher level of life.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Only the man who has had to face despair is really convinced that he needs mercy. Those who do not want mercy never seek it. It is better to find God on the threshold of despair than to risk our lives in a complacency that has never felt the need of forgiveness. A life that is without problems may literally be more hopeless than one that always verges on despair.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Our glory and our hope— We are the Body of Christ. Christ loves us and espouses us as His own flesh. Isn’t that enough for us? But we do not really believe it. No! Be content, be content. We are the Body of Christ. We have found Him, He has found us. We are in Him, He is in us. There is nothing further to look for, except for the deepening of this life we already possess. Be content.
–Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
No two saints are alike, just as no two stars in the sky are alike. Yet, all the saints are alike in one regard: they each reflect some aspect of the life of Jesus.
–Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002)
Jesus should be everything to you: the object of all your desires, the reason behind all of your decisions, the motivation of all your emotions, and the model for all your actions.
–Francois-Xavier Nguyen Van Thuân (1928-2002)
If we do not actively seek God early in the morning,
it will be very unlikely that we meet him later in the day.
–Brother Andrew [Anne van der Bijl] (1928-
