The means by which we live have superseded the ends for which we live. . . . we have foolishly minimized what is interior in our lives for what is exterior. We have reduced life to lifestyle. 

—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

If . . . a laborer [in Jesus' time] did not find work for several days, his family was destitute. In such circumstances the fourth petition of the Lord's Prayer ("Give us today our bread for this day") takes on a poignancy many of us no longer experience. It is a prayer for survival.

-David J. Bosch (1929-1992)

The Lord's Prayer is truly the summary of the whole gospel.

-Tertullian (c. 160-c. 225)

Our text says of Martha that she was busy with much serving. In fact, right down to the present day we see prelates in charge of the churches and the other clergy devotedly hurrying to and fro about their work, hot and bothered, sweating over the needs of their brothers and sister in various ways, so that we may rightly describe them as also busy with much serving.

—Bruno of Segni (d. 1123)

All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ, for he himself will say: “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.”

—Rule of Benedict

A religious man is a person who holds God  and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair.

—Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972)

The traveling Samaritan who was Christ—for he was a  true traveler—saw the one lying there. He did not pass by, for  the very reason he made his journey was to “visit us,” us for whom he descended to earth and dwelt therein.

—Severus of Antioch (6th century)

We shall find peace. We shall hear angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.

—Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

God is dangerous. God is a devouring fire. God has cast his eyes on you. . . . Take care, he is crafty, he begins with a little love, a small flame, and before you can realize it for what it is, he catches hold of you and you are taken.

I leave you the spirit of liberty-not that which excludes obedience, for that is the liberty of the flesh; but that which excludes restraint, scruple, and worry.

But any kind of social or cultural discrimination in basic personal rights on the grounds of sex, race, color, social conditions, language, or religion must be curbed and eradicated as incompatible with God's design.

Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.

Without true love for Christ, we will not be true disciples. . . .

Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, says the Lord God, and not rather that they should turn from their ways and live?

—Ezekiel 18:23

Forgiveness is God's invention for coming to terms with a world in which, despite their best intentions, people are unfair to each other and hurt each other deeply. He began by forgiving us. And he invites us all to forgive each other.

-Lewis B. Smedes (1921-2002)

O sacred banquet, in which Christ is received, the memorial of his passion is celebrated, our hearts are filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given us!

--O Sacrum Convivium

As in the life of the body, a person who is born and becomes strong later requires food so that life may be preserved and sustained, so also in the spiritual life, a person, after being fortified, requires spiritual food, which is Christ's Body . . . .

--Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274) 

The understanding of the doctrine of justification set forth in this Declaration shows that a consensus in basic truths of the doctrine of justification exists between Lutherans and Catholics.

—Joint Lutheran-Catholic Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification, 1997