A weekly curation of quotations I come across in my reading life (or on random condiment jars) — from the inspirational to the miscellaneous. Perhaps one inspires you or catches your fancy too…
At home in God’s Heart…
“This is and has been the Father’s work from the beginning — to bring us into the home of His heart.” – George MacDonald
The happiness you seek…
“It is Jesus you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life.” – St. John Paul II
Before you start your work…
“Whenever you begin any good work you should first of all make a most pressing appeal to Christ our Kind to bring it to perfection.” – From the Rule of St. Benedict (His memorial is today! Read this quote in context in the Office of Readings for the Liturgy of the Hours.)
What being “chosen” means…
“To be chosen as the Beloved of God is something radically different. Instead of excluding others, it includes others. Instead of rejecting others as less valuable, it accepts others in their own uniqueness. It is not a competitive, but a compassionate choice.” – Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved.
Today in the liturgical year we celebrate the life of a young saint who lived in Italy during the turn of the 20th century. This was a hard-working little girl from a poor farming family, whose father died when she was nine, requiring her family to move in with another family. When she was 11, one of the sons of the family they lived with, Alessandro, made sexual advances toward her. When she refused him, he stabbed her 14 times. As she was dying in the hospital she forgave him. He was imprisoned for 27 years, during which time he had a conversion of heart. When he was released, he begged Maria’s mother’s forgiveness — which she granted — and he became a lay brother in a monastery later in life.