Toward Us

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To desire God is to possess him, for it is God who desires us first and without ceasing.

 Painted initial from an early Cistercian manuscript. 

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True and False

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Nothing should be held true merely because it is eloquently expressed, no false because it sounds harsh upon the lips. And a thing is not true because rudely uttered, nor is it false because its utterance is splendid. I have learned from you that wisdom is like wholesome food and folly like unwholesome food: they can be set forth in language ornate or plain, just as both kinds of food can be served on rich dishes or on peasant ware. SAINT AUGUSTINE Confessions
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Reservoirs & Canals

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Be a reservoir rather than as a canal. A canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus communicates, without loss to itself, its super abundant water. In the Church at the present day, we have many canals, few reservoirs. St. BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX Sermons on the Song of Songs
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Homily — The Humility of God

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Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Today’s readings convey a strong and uncomfortable message—the indispensable need for humility if we are to enter the Kingdom of heaven: humility as a human stance that pleases God because it allows room for him to enter our heart; humility as a trait that makes lovable the person who possesses it; and humility above all as an attitude that reflects Jesus’ own mindset and manner of life: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Mt 11:29). It is helpful here to remember the group of significant English words with which “humility” shares the same root hum-, namely: humus, human and humor. Why do these words belong together? What links them is a clear-eyed realism about ourselves, hinting that we should always prefer staying close to the soil from which we were taken as a way of abiding in the truth, rather than flying too high for our own good on the wings of conceit, which will soo...
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