“True, I am in love with suffering, but I do not know if I deserve the honor.”

The safest and most suitable form of penance seems to be that which causes pain in the flesh but does not penetrate to the bones, that is, which causes suffering but not sickness.

If our church is not marked by caring for the poor, the oppressed, the hungry, we are guilty of heresy.

What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines.

As for joy, as little as one can have of it in this life, experience shows that it is not the idle who possess it, but those who are zealous in the service of God.

Stand firm and immovable as an anvil when it is beaten upon.

Let us work as if success depended upon ourselves alone, but with heartfelt conviction that we are doing nothing, and God everything.

If you attach your heart to certain places and occupations, obedience oftentimes places you in some other place that you may not like; to be always cheerful, be always humble and obedient.

Remember that bodily exercise, when it is well ordered, as I have said, is also prayer by means of which you can please God our Lord.

It is proper to ask for sorrow with Christ in sorrow, anguish with Christ in anguish, tears and deep grief because of the great affliction Christ endures for me.

May the perfect grace and eternal love of Christ our Lord be our never-failing protection and help.

The acknowledgment of and gratitude for favors and gifts received is loved and esteemed in Heaven and on earth.

If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign that He certainly intends to make you a saint.

It is not the finest wood that feeds the fire of Divine love, but the wood of the Cross.

Remember that the good angels do what they can to preserve men from sin and obtain God’s honor. But they do not lose courage when men fail.

Finding God in All Things.

Few souls understand what God would effect in them if they should give themselves entirely into his hands and allow his grace to act.

Grace means undeserved kindness. It is the gift of God to man the moment he sees he is unworthy of God’s favor.

We must choose between the violence of adults and the smiles of children. Between the ugliness of hate and the will to oppose it. Between inflicting suffering and humiliation on our fellow man and offering him the solidarity and hope he deserves.

Sworn enemies. Past lovers. What did either of our hearts do to deserve this. You were poetry to me.

Some of the things you believe were never true. They were someone else’s fears. Give yourself a chance to examine your thoughts. Change those that are negative. You are deserving.

Change is in the air, as old patterns fall away and new energies are emerging. Consciously release what needs to be released, and welcome with a full embrace the newness you’ve prayed for and so richly deserve.

In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone.

Grace is the vehicle God uses on occasion to ensure that we get precisely what we dont deserve.

I give myself permission to be all that I can be, and I deserve the very best in life.