For who would not blush for shame, strip himself of his possessions, and embrace a life of poverty when he saw an apostle carrying neither bag, nor even bread which is so very essential?

—Theophylact (c. 1050-1109)

Redemption and forgiveness are not merely an individual matter, for they come from the interconnecting of all things under God’s purpose. The Christian’s life is not lived in a vacuum, but within the church and beyond that within the midst of all things. It matters to the cosmos whether God’s people proceed with faith and love and hope.

—Rev. John Gibbs, Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota

We glimpse upon the beauty that is laid up for us when we gaze upon the spiritual beauty your immortal will now creates within our mortal selves.

—Saint Ephrem the Syrian (c. 306-373)

When you come up and receive the sweet reward which grace has wrought for us, then we shall thank and bless our Lord, endlessly rejoicing that ever we suffered woe. And that shall be a property of blessed love that we shall know in God which we could never have known without woe going before.

—Julian of Norwich (c. 1342-c. 1413)

I am not in the slightest displeased, Margaret, that your frailty causes you to fear. God gave us both the grace to despair of ourselves and to entrust ourselves entirely, in utter dependence, to the strength of hope.
—Saint Thomas More (1478-1535), from a letter to his daughter

Let orators keep their eloquence, philosophers their wisdom, kings their kingdoms; for us, Christ is glory, riches, and kingdom; for us, wisdom is the folly of the gospel; for us, strength is the weakness of the flesh and glory the scandal of the cross.
—Saint Paulinus of Nola (343-431)

For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.
—2 Corinthians 13:4

We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts.
—Romans 5:3-5

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.

—Albert Camus (1913–1960)

Let us . . . have our eyes fixed on the image of God so that we may be formed anew in God’s likeness. . . . By looking back at the image of God, in whose likeness humanity was created, we will receive back from the power of God’s Word the form we had by nature.

—Origen (185-254)

Why therefore be disturbed? Your heart is agitated by the tribulations of the world, as the boat in which Jesus Christ was asleep. . . . This boat in which Jesus Christ is sleeping is your heart in which faith is slumbering. What news do you hear, O Christian, what news do you hear?

—Augustine of Hippo (354-430)  

When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him.

—Proverbs 8:27-30

The holy and sacred sacrifice and sacrament of the Eucharist, the heart of the Christian religion . . . is an ineffable mystery that embraces the untold depths of divine love . . . . Prayer united to this divine sacrifice has unutterable power.
—Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Christ spoke of the blood of the new covenant, that is, of the promise . . . . He had promised long before that the new covenant would be ratified by his blood. As the old covenant had been ratified by the blood of sheep and calves, so the new covenant was to be ratified by the blood of the Lord.
—Saint John Chrysostom (c. 347-407)

Jesus, good shepherd and true bread, have mercy on us; feed us and guard us. Grant that we find happiness in the land of the living. You know all things, can do all things, and feed us here on Earth. Make us your guests in heaven, coheirs with you, and companions of heaven’s citizens.
—Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Sequence for the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

0 eternal Trinity, God, you are an abyss, a deep sea; you have given yourself to me—what greater could you give? You are a fire, ever burning and never consumed, consuming in your heat all the self-love of the soul, taking away all coldness. By your light you enlighten our minds, as by your light you have brought me to know your truth.
—Saint Catherine of Siena (c. 1347-1380)

Proselytism” has as many appealing connotations as “root canal.” It’s not just “evangelism,” sharing the gospel with any and everyone. Proselytism implies dynamit-ing an existing faith to clear ground for a new one.
—Frederica Mathewes-Green

bove all guard for me this great deposit of faith for which I live and fight, which I want to take with me as a companion, and which makes me bear all evils and despise all pleasures: I mean the profession of faith in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
—Saint Gregory of Nazianzus (329/330-389/390)

Believers, be God’s helpers. When Jesus the son of Mary said to the disciples, “Who will help me on the way to God?” they replied, “We are God’s helpers.”
—Qur’an 61:14

Come, Holy Spirit. . . . You, Spirit of truth, are the reward of the saints, the refreshment of souls, light in darkness, the riches of the poor, the treasury of lovers, the satisfaction of the hungry, the consolation of the pilgrim church.
—Saint Mary Magdalen dei Pazzi (1566-1607)

Without doubt, the Holy Spirit was at work in the world before Christ was glorified. On the day of Pentecost, however, he came down on the disciples so that he might remain with them forever; on that day the church was openly displayed to the crowds, and the spread of the gospel among the nations, through preaching, was begun.
—Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, Second Vatican Council, 1965

Let your heart be an altar. Then, with full confidence in God, present your body for sacrifice. God desires not death, but faith; God thirsts not for blood, but for self-surrender.
—Saint Peter Chrysologus (406-450)

For the right of another . . . is the expression of God’s love and God’s will.
—Thomas Merton (1915-1968)

Love consists in sharing what one has and what one is with those one loves. Love ought to show itself in deeds more than in words.
—Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556)

Lord, hear my voice when I call to you. My heart has prompted me to seek your face; I seek it Lord; do not hide from me.

We, too, should shape our cross in suffering for one another as the Savior taught us; in giving our lives for those very ones who would take it from us, as he so lovingly did; in spending ourselves for our neighbor, not only in agreeable things, but also in those which are painful and disagreeable . . . .
—Saint Francis de Sales (1567-1622)

Whoever wrote First John did indeed provide the best commentary on the identity of the God disclosed in the message of forgiveness and judgment, the ministry of healing, the suffering of the Passion, and the vindication of the Resurrection of this Jesus confessed to be the Christ: God, as God, is manifested as Love in the life and fate of this Jesus the Christ.
—David Tracy, The Living Pulpit, July-September 1992

Let us in all time . . . learn to love as we should, God above all things, and all other things for him.
—Saint Thomas More (1477-1535)

I can think of no better way of redeeming this tragic world today than love and laughter. Too many of the young have forgotten how to laugh, and too many of the elders have forgotten how to love. Would not our lives be lightened if only we could all learn to laugh more easily at ourselves and to love one another?
—Father Theodore Hesburgh, C.S.C., President Emeritus of the University of Notre Dame 

Every time the serious business of the life-giving gospel is presented as “business as usual,” what is beyond price becomes nothing more than a low-budget sale item.
—Father Ronald Wayne Young, O.M.I., Offering

The passage from the gospel in which the Lord calls himself the vine and his disciples the branches affirms in its own way that, as —Saint Augustine (354-430)mediator between God and the human race, the man Christ Jesus is head of the church and we are its members.

If our love is only a will to possess, it is not love. We must look deeply in order to see and understand the needs of the person we love. This is the ground of real love.
—Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Peace Is Every Step

Glorious God, look upon us with love. Grant us true freedom, and give us voice to sing your praise throughout this season of joy. We ask this through Christ our Lord.