A child needs both to be hugged and unhugged. The hug lets her know she is valuable. The unhug lets her know that she is viable.
—Polly Berrien Berends, Gently Lead

As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live.
–Pope John Paul II

Elizabeth was the first to hear the voice but her son John was the first to feel the effects of grace.
—Saint Ambrose of Milan (340-39)

The food of real love is sacrifice.
—Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.
—Julian of Norwich (1342-c. 1416)

The terrible thing, the almost impossible thing, is to hand over your whole self—all your wishes and precautions—to Christ.
–C. S. Lewis

To find joy in another’s joy, that is the secret of happiness.
—George Bernanos

John was called a voice and not a word, because, through John, God . . . was planning to do something great through human history.
—Anon. early Christian homily on Matthew

See, days are coming . . . when I will raise up a righteous branch for David; as king he shall reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land.
—Jeremiah 23:5

No one has a right to sit down and feel hopeless. There’s too much work to do.
–Dorothy Day

Therefore, distrust every claim for truth where you do not see truth united with love; and be certain that you are of the truth and that the truth has taken hold of you only when love has taken hold of you and has started to make you free from yourselves.
—Paul Tillich

What is in fact Christ’s kingdom? It is simply those who believe in him . . . . Everyone who is reborn in Christ becomes the Kingdom which is no longer of the world.
—Saint Augustine (354-430)

What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from.
—T. S. Eliot

I observe, then, that though Christians may be mistaken in what they took to be signs of Christ’s coming, yet they were not wrong in their state of mind, they were not mistaken in looking out, and that for Christ.
—John Henry Newman (1801-90)

All those who hold to true faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and show proof of their faith by good works . . . .   will rise again to hear the king of heaven himself saying to them: “Come, my Father’s blessed ones, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.”
—Saint Gregory Palamas (1296-1359)

There is no higher calling, no loftier dream, and no greater goal than to live, breathe, and be poured out for Jesus Christ.
—From Brother Andrew’s The Calling

The poor widow cast only two pennies into the treasury; yet because she gave all she had it is said of her that she surpassed all the rich in offering gifts to God.
—Saint Jerome (347-419)

The central mantra of the Jewish people is “Hear, O Israel.” Listen. The command implies that still one can hear, that the revelation is still happening.
—Michael Lerner, Jewish Renewal

Where there is love and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.
—Saint Francis of Assisi

Receive Christ, receive power to see, receive your light . . . . More delightful than gold and precious stones, more desirable than honey and the honeycomb is the word that has enlightened us.
—Saint Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-c. 215)

The light in which you dwell, Lord, is beyond my understanding. It is so brilliant that I cannot bear it, I cannot turn my mind’s eye toward it for any length of time. I am dazzled by its brightness, amazed by its grandeur, overwhelmed by its immensity, bewildered by its abundance.
—Saint Anselm of Canterbury (c. 1033-1109)

The fullness of joy is to behold God in everything.
–Julian of Norwich (c. 1342-1417)