Quotes from Francis Cardinal George, OMI

The Church understands herself in terms of holiness; the world understands the Church in terms of power.

The devil is the source of temptation, but succumbing to temptation is our own doing. Only if we come face to face with our own sinfulness, do we begin to be grateful for the power of God's forgiveness. Only if we recognize the connection between sin and death, do we begin to probe the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection. Only if we experience the evil we have done, do we begin to understand how God has brought redemption out of loss, love out of hatred.

The God who is Lord of the universe, the personal God who created and sustains our world so that it does not fall back into nothingness, the God who saves us through the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, seeks to be the center of each and every human life.

The primary means of achieving unity, after prayer for the conversion of all of us to the ways of the Lord, is to engage in dialogue. Genuine dialogue means each party brings the fullness of their beliefs and shares them, trusting the dialogue partner to respect them.

To despoil oneself of all wealth in Jesus' name is a sign of faith in Divine Providence.

We are nowhere more together than in prayer with and to the Mother of our Lord.

We have to move forward together into a future that is not at all secure except for our certitude that God's love is constant.

We need to learn how to forgive or we cannot be missionaries anywhere. Only forgiveness from the heart can release us from our own hurts and misery and free us to share Christ's gifts with others.

Whatever our level of education, we can truly read and understand the Scriptures in the light of our faith in Jesus, the living Word, who is present and speaks to us today in and through his Church. Outside of that faith, no one can do theology or understand Scripture as God intends it to be understood.

When a very bright light shines in our face, we blink. We close our eyes. The light is still there, but our eyes reject it because it is too much for them. On the first Easter day, even the apostles and Jesus' close friends blinked. It took a while to recognize him and to realize what had happened. It was too much to believe until the Lord pressed them with the evidence. Once convinced, they testified to Jesus' resurrection even at the cost of their lives.