Quotes from Ralph Martin

You will please him more readily if you live within the limits proper to you, and do not set your sights at things beyond you (Sir. 3:22).

God is permitting the apparent triumph of evil to reveal the secrets of hearts, just as it was prophesied by Simeon at Jesus' birth.

say "yes" to the Lord's call to participate with Him in His ongoing mission to "seek and save those who are lost

our patience has to become a universal submission to the will of God, in humility.

You test the virtue of patience in yourself when your neighbors insult you. Your humility is tested by the proud, your faith by the unfaithful, your hope by the person who has no hope. Your justice is tried by the unjust, your compassion by the cruel, and your gentleness and kindness by the wrathful. Your neighbors are the channel through which all your virtues are tested and come to birth, just as the evil give birth to all their vices through their neighbors.72

Though at every point you showed that what you were saying was true, yet I, convinced by that truth, had no answer to give you except merely slow and sleepy words: "At once"—"But presently"—"Just a little longer, please." But "At once, at once" never came to the point of decision, and "Just a little longer, please" went on and on for a long while. . . .

If we have not sinned as seriously it is because of God's grace preventing and protecting us, which gives us the right and duty of being as deeply grateful and passionately loving as the greatest of forgiven sinners.

When pleasure follows the temptation and could have been avoided but was not, there is always some kind of sin according to the amount of time it is dwelt on and the pleasure taken in it.41

John states a very important principle: it is neither the presence nor the absence of things that indicate true detachment, but rather, the interior freedom of heart that puts its trust not in things—possessing or keeping what we already have, or longing for what we don't have—but rather in the Father's care.

God cannot inspire unrealizable desires.

Currently in the United States, 40 percent of children are born out of wedlock, contributing to massive family breakdown,

There are so many aspects of the Fatima events that evidence the contemplative infusion of significant graces that produced zeal in the three children, but the one that I want to focus on is the apparition of Mary to the children on July 13, 1917.

Jesus calls us to be primarily occupied with living for the kingdom. If we do this, He promises that the things we need for life on this earth will be given as well.

Apart from that the only solitude prescribed for you is that of the mind and spirit. You enjoy this solitude if you refuse to share in the common gossip, if you shun involvement in the problems of the hour and set no store by the fancies that attract the masses; if you reject what everybody covets, avoid disputes make light of losses, and pay no heed to injuries (2 Sam. 19:19).

Not to complain about being poor in actual fact reveals true poverty of spirit

the need to let joy be manifested outwardly as well as inwardly as an invitation to others to join in the joy of salvation.

A tender affection, a heart glowing with love, the infusion of holy ardor, and the vigor of a spirit filled with zeal are obviously not acquired from any place other than the wine-cellar.

Unfortunately, there is little evidence that the Church, so far at least, except among relatively small groupings, has adequately realized the internal renewal that the Council hoped for, which was primarily a renewal in holiness.

A form of wordless prayer in which mind and heart focus on God's greatness and goodness in affective, loving adoration; to look on Jesus and the mysteries of his life with faith and love

Here I do not refer to the simple love of charity we must have for all men but of that spiritual friendship by which two, three, or more souls share with one another their devotion and spiritual affections and establish a single spirit among themselves.

Authority, of course, is primarily service, but service of a very particular kind; it involves listening, consulting, and reaching consensus if possible, but also, when necessary, correcting, admonishing, rebuking, and making tough decisions even when there isn't consensus.

The purest suffering brings with it the purest and most intimate knowing, and consequently the purest and highest joy, because it is a knowing from further within . . . even to the agony of death in order to see God. . . .

Mark Twain said on one occasion, "It is not those parts of scripture that are hard to understand that most disturb me, but those parts that are so clear!

One can possess joy in a prison cell as well as in a palace. The