“Sometimes we are tempted to be that kind of Christian who keeps the Lord’s wounds at arm’s length. Yet Jesus wants us to touch human misery, to touch the suffering flesh of others. He hopes that we will stop looking for those personal or communal niches which shelter us from the maelstrom of human misfortune and instead enter into the reality of other people’s lives and know the power of tenderness. Whenever we do so, our lives become wonderfully complicated and we experience intensely what it is to be a people, to be part of a people.” PeopleKnowsWantHumansKindSometimesRealityChristianSufferingJesusLordOur LivesArmsMiseryComplicatedFleshWoundsLengthMisfortunesTendernessShelterTemptedWant UNicheMaelstrom Book:The Joy of the Gospel Source: The Joy of the Gospel
“What misery to live in this world! We are like men whose enemies are at the door, who must not lay aside their arms, even while sleeping or eating, and are always in dread lest the foe should enter the fortress by some breach in the walls. O my Lord and my all! How canst thou wish us to prize such a wretched existence?” MenWorldLifeShouldWishSleepExistenceLordEnemyDoorsThis WorldWallArmsEatingLaysMiseryPrizeDreadFoeWretchedBreachFortresses Book:The Interior Castle, or the Mansions Source: The Interior Castle, or the Mansions
“Pride measures prosperity not by her own advantages but by the disadvantages of others. She would not even wish to be a goddess unless there were some wretches left whom she could order about and lord it over, whose misery would make her happiness seem all the more extraordinary, whose poverty can be tormented and exacerbated by a display of her wealth. This infernal serpent, pervading the human heart, keeps men from reforming their lives, holding them back like a suckfish.” MenHumansHeartSeemsOrderLeftWishWealthLordPovertyPrideAdvantageMiseryExtraordinaryProsperityDisplayGoddessHuman HeartDisadvantagesSerpent Author:Thomas More
“I saw the abyss of my misery; whatever there is of good in me is Yours, O Lord. But because I am so small and wretched, I have a right to count on Your boundless mercy.” LordSawsMercyMiseryAbyssWretchedBoundless Author:Mary Faustina Kowalska
“I have been asked many times, Why do you laugh so much and make so many jokes? I become serious sometimes-when I have a stomachache! The Lord is all blissfulness. He is the reality behind all that exists. He is the goodness, the truth in everything. You are His incarnations. That is what is glorious. The nearer you are to Him, the less you will have occasions to cry or weep. The further we are from Him, the more will long faces come. The more we know of Him, the more misery vanishes.” KnowsLongHas BeensSometimesRealityFacesBehindsLordLaughingCrySeriousGoodnessJokesMiseryOccasionsGloriousIncarnation Book:Swami Vivekananda on Himself Source: Swami Vivekananda on Himself