Religious life is an encounter with the living God. Sometimes that encounter is preceded by a kind of soul-searching agony that tries desperately not to hear, runs in the opposite direction, and frantically tries to reason itself out of answering the invitation.

It is good to have an intellectual awareness of our dependence upon God - to understand how great He is and how very small we are in His sight.

Every individual we meet is different than we are. Members of the same family differ one from the other. Friend differs from friend, husband from wife, sister from brother, nation from nation. All these differences make 'feeling' love difficult and isolated to specific individuals according to our tastes and their personalities.

From the time of Adam and Eve, man has tried to escape suffering in any form.

At Baptism, I received grace - that quality that makes me share in the very nature of God.

There are many who are not guilty of doing anything wrong but very guilty of sins of omission - the things they neglect to do - the good things - the kind, thoughtful words, compassionate thoughts and hopeful attitudes they might have had towards their neighbor.

A family spirit is not always synonymous with family life. Bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh makes for brothers, sisters and relatives, who may be as distant as strangers in a foreign land.

God has given each one of us a gift greater than a thousand I.B.M. machines. It is called a memory, and everything that passes through our five senses is stored in this faculty.

When our neighbor's personality possesses harsh qualities, we show our love by not voluntarily provoking those qualities in any way. Past experience shows us what upsets a person, so in their presence we are careful not to do or say those things that cause anger. We are self-effacing.

Every Christian who strives for holiness of life experiences dryness of soul. It is to most people a heart-rending experience. It is a paradox, for the soul becomes confused when it realizes the harder it strives the further away Jesus seems to be.

Family life is the backbone of mankind, and that life is dependent upon mutual giving, sharing, and receiving from each other. It entails the proper use of each other's successes and failures for mutual up-building.

St. Paul did not want the sufferings encountered by being a Christian to discourage or dishearten anyone. He realized that when the Christian saw the blessings and grace that poured upon him after his trials, he would gain courage to suffer in his turn.

Jesus wants us to trust him to take care of all our yesterdays and tomorrows.

The heart of Jesus is compassionate and understanding. It has felt the sting of ingratitude, and when my heart suffers from that same offense, I can turn to him, and he understands my feelings.

Each one of us has a particular virtue and faults that make the process of becoming like Jesus different.

No man can see God in this life and live because His glory would annihilate our poor, weak human nature.

God is a spirit and converses with us in a quiet atmosphere because our minds are not capable of listening to his voice when they are filled with noise and confusion.

My failures may be my greatest successes. It is in failure that I have often drawn closer to God, learn to depend more on Him than myself, gained self-knowledge, and seen things in their right perspective.

Neighbors are competitors instead of partners, suspicious instead of trustful, indifferent instead of helpful, cold instead of loving, greedy instead of generous. We no longer consider ourselves living in neighborhoods, but only as living next to 'hoods.'

Every Christian is important - important to God, to the world, and to the kingdom.

No creature, not even the most exalted angel, can understand God or have perfect knowledge of Him.

Some people spend their time and thoughts in feeling, hearing, seeing, and listening. Whatever cannot be felt or experienced they will not accept. We call these people 'emotional.'

For me, a thing must exist before I know it, but with God, it is different - he must know it before it has existence.

Today's man of the world proclaims that sin, and his enterprising in sin, are a part of modern living, but it is not modern. It goes back to Adam and Eve - to desire and the temptation to know - to experience evil.

Married life has become to many a necessary burden, but a burden that is shed very easily.

Each one of us sees Jesus in a different way. To some, He was prophet, for they needed to know the kingdom was at hand. But most of all, He was the son of God, and He came to experience the consequences of the curse the Father had put upon mankind when Adam and Eve disobeyed.

Jesus told us to learn from him how to be meek and humble of heart. We must look at his life if we are to have any concept of what humility is all about.

For thirty years, Jesus never allowed his divinity to manifest itself. He was infinitely superior to everyone but never showed it.

I have a tendency to judge everything in its relationship to me instead of the value it has in God's eyes. I cannot judge everything solely on its good or bad effect on me.

I cannot bring Christ to my neighbor and to the world if I have not first given him to my family.

There should be in the life of every married couple a continual building of the sacrament.

People live, work, walk, play, shop, study, and eat with other people. There are few desert dwellers who live alone without depending in some way on people.

Jesus was happy when people acknowledged his dignity and saddened when they did not, but he never sought their esteem or regard.

Like Jesus, every human being has enough memories in his past to occupy his time and thoughts continually. It is not the remembrance of these incidents but the reliving of them that creates havoc in our souls.

Jesus feels my sorrow greater than I, for his love is infinite, and he suffers in an infinite way.

Even if my fellow man has proven faithless time after time, I can at least retain a hope that he will improve, pray for him, and think kindly without frustration and disappointment.

God cannot forgive a sinner who does not acknowledge his sin.

When I try to be patient on my own, my patience is forced and short-lived. It is obvious to everyone that I am desperately trying to be patient.

When man invents or produces anything of any value, volumes are written on the subject.

Some people spend their time reasoning and thinking out everything, and so anything that cannot be fully understood, they will not accept. We call these people 'intellectuals.'

The proud intellectual seeks knowledge about God, but he never knows God, because he cannot accept the mysteries that he is unable to fully comprehend.

Jesus was loyal to his apostles, with full knowledge of their cowardice. He was loyal to the poor, accepting the criticism of the Pharisees, so the destitute would never feel deserted. He was loyal to his father, accomplishing his will even unto death.

We are so accustomed to love on a human level that we find loving God for Himself either impossible or beyond our capabilities. We tend to love those who appeal to us, render us a service, or are good to us. In the degree they perform these various services, we love them.

We must look at the personality of Jesus and see him under various circumstances - circumstances not unlike our own - and then praise him by imitating him to the best of our ability.

Jesus did not always like the Apostles' way of acting, but by adapting himself to their temperament, praying for them to his father, giving them a holy example of conduct, he loved them, and that love changed them.

God's word is always effective and produces whatever it expresses. My words, on the contrary, cannot create anything; I can only change what already is into something else.

No Christian needs to feel lonely or useless.

To God, all things are present; there is no past or future - it is all now.

Men are not born saints with special gifts and privileges. They fight against the world, the flesh and the devil, and as they conquer, the spirit of Jesus begins to shine through with more clarity.

I am a mirror to my neighbor, and in that mirror, he must see a reflection of Jesus. If that mirror is cloudy or distorted, Jesus' reflection will be so vague it will hardly be seen.