Quotes from Ralph Martin

One of the most common reasons why people begin the spiritual journey but then turn back is because they find themselves failing, wearing out, or getting tired or discouraged as a result of relying on their own strength or intellect rather than on the Lord. In

Self-love, self-esteem, judging one's neighbors (even though in little things), a lack of charity for them, and not loving them as ourselves" are like little worms gnawing away at our life with God.

Human pride and self-reliance must be broken for salvation to break in.

Hatred for sin is important. Confidence in the mercy of God is even more important.

When there is union of love, the image of the Beloved is so sketched in the will, and drawn so intimately and vividly, that it is true to say that the Beloved lives in the lover and the lover in the Beloved. Love produces such likeness in this transformation of lovers that one can say each is the other and both are one.

As John of the Cross points out with devastating accuracy and precision, the disorders in our heart, unless they are healed and purified by the action of the one true God, will leave us enslaved to our passions and unable to think clearly, decide wisely, and live in a way worthy of our dignity as bearers of the image of God.

Making a decision never to freely choose to commit even a small sin is an important turning point in the spiritual journey.

What is your state of soul with respect to mortal sin? Are you firmly resolved never to commit it for any reason whatsoever? . . . In this resolution consists the foundation of the spiritual life.

humility and compassion are among the chief fruits of bearing such an ongoing condition of weakness in patience and in faith.

My mortifications consisted in breaking my will, always so ready to impose itself on others, in holding back a reply, in rendering little services without any recognition, in not leaning my back against a support when seated, etc., etc. It was through the practice of these nothings that I prepared myself to become the fiancée of Jesus.18

the spiritual journey is all about is uniting our will with God's will, wanting what He wants, loving what He loves, living a life that in all its aspects honors Him and gives Him glory.

What is necessary is the faith that leads to obedience and to discipleship.

Repentance must involve a change of life, bringing our lives into harmony with God's will. This means turning away from sin and yielding to the transforming work of the Spirit so we may grow in virtue.

Teresa of Avila makes the point that it isn't whether the prayers are memorized or not or said out loud or not that determines their value, but whether we pay attention to what we're saying and to whom we're speaking.

Union with God of this depth is totally unattainable by our own efforts; it is a gift that only God can give; we are totally dependent on His grace for progress in the spiritual life. Yet

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pain: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.474

Here John very helpfully, and very realistically, explains that a genuine purifying dryness may coexist with some elements of emotional problems, such as depression; nevertheless, if the concern to serve and please God persists in the midst of the difficulty, it is a sign of God's purifying work.

As we dispose ourselves for union by turning from sin and from all inordinate attachments as best we can, and as we focus our lives on God, the Lord by degrees gives us graces in prayer such as Teresa has been describing, which help to bring about the transformation.

The experience of union in prayer, Teresa makes very clear, is intended to help make more possible the union of our wills with God's will, in a more profound obedience and love.

True union can very well be reached with God's help, if we make the effort to obtain it by keeping our wills fixed only on that which is God's will.

Souls perish in spite of My bitter Passion. I am giving them the last hope of salvation; that is the Feast of My Mercy. If they will not adore My mercy, they will perish for all eternity. Secretary of My mercy, write, tell souls about this great mercy of mine, because the awful day, the day of My justice, is near.

the goal is not the experience, but the union, manifested in a greater conformity of our will to God's will, in love of God and neighbor.

One of the most amazing recent developments is that a number of aggressive atheists are beginning to see the horror of a totally de-Christianized culture and are starting to acknowledge, without themselves claiming to have become believers, that Christianity contributed some great value to our lives and many of the progressive ideals came to birth only as a result of Christianity.

The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the 'mystery of iniquity' in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.