Inspirational thoughts

A brother questioned Abba Arsenius to hear a word of him and the old man said to him, “Strive with all your might to bring your interior activity into accord with God, and you will overcome exterior passions.”

“The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven, and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth,” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

“Do you really believe what you are proclaiming? Do you live what you believe? Do you really preach what you live? The witness of life has become more than ever an essential condition for real effectiveness in preaching.” Pope St. Paul VI
St. Paul was an effective preacher and converted thousands to the Catholic faith, because he was an authentic and convinced Christian who had a very deep and a very personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

“To maintain any thread in the novel there must be a view of the world behind it & the most important single item under this view of the world is conception of love—divine, natural, & perverted. It is probably possible to say that when a view of love is present—a broad enough view—no more need be added to make the world view.” – Flannery O’Connor

What greater example of love than Jesus dying on the cross for me and you and the whole world…

“Real courage is when you know you’re licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”  To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee
This quote makes me think of running a marathon with a lofty “pr” goal…you know what’s ahead, but you’ve put in the training, and you will “see it through no matter what.” It helps me to have an intention for which to offer up the pain! My next marathon will be on Sunday, December 6th on the C&O Canal in DC!

“One cannot desire freedom from the cross when one is especially chosen for the cross.” St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross

“When someone leaves, it’s because someone else is about to arrive” Paulo Coelho

God and Mary know when we lose a loved one, and they are quick to jump into that void and fill it with their love!

“It sounds plausible enough tonight, but wait until tomorrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning.” The Time Machine-H.G. Wells

“As the children grow up you feel that you are an example, a support for them; that even after you die your children will always keep your thoughts and feelings, because they have received them from you, they will take on your semblance and likeness. So you see this is a great duty.” Fyodor Doestovsky
I could never thank my mom and dad enough for putting Christ first, their marriage second and for their selfless dedication to their 4 children…so grateful!!

“When I look back at the past and think how much time has been wasted in vain, how much time was lost in delusions, in errors, in idleness, in ignorance of how to live, how I did not value time, how often I sinned against my heart and spirit—my heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, each minute might have been an age of happiness… not to be downhearted nor to fall in whatever misfortunes may befall me—this is life; this is the task of life.” Fyodor Doestoevsky