Category: Words of Wisdom

At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants. – Matthew 11:25 (WEB)

Have you ever had those times when something seemed to have been logically explained to you and yet somewhere within, you feel that something is just not right? Don’t dispel that feeling so quickly because it may have something valuable to tell you.

For in this world, there are many things that appear to be good but are in truth evil, and many things that sound pleasing to the ear but are truly rotten to the heart.

Don’t numb that little voice within you just yet. Don’t dismiss it as the mere stuff of naive children. At times, children can see things clearer because things are simpler in their eyes.

The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything. – Thomas Merton

“It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare.” – Mark Twain

There is a different kind of courage, the kind the world does not often see or believe in. For to the world, courage has become a sort of a license to merely do what one wills. To the world, it is the violent man that is brave. It is the man that speaks loudly. It is the man that imposes and forces his own will so that others may obey in fear.

Yet what is courage? It is the willingness to stand alone if that’s what it takes to express his faith. It is refusing to do something wrong even if everyone else is doing it. It is acknowledging one’s mistakes. It is being able to speak softly even when others are already being rude.

Matthew 10:16 (WEB) “Behold, I send you out as sheep among wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

“It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

“Courage is not the towering oak that sees storms come and go; it is the fragile blossom that opens in the snow.” – Alice M. Swaim

It takes a lot of courage to continue to believe in the light when you’re in so much darkness. It takes a lot of courage to continue doing good when everyone around you tells you nobody does that anymore.

Where do you find the strength to continue fighting for what you believe in? Where do you find the power to resist despair when you see no fruit whatsoever to everything you’ve worked so hard for?

Take heart for you are never alone. God whose light has led you so far will never leave you. The Lord in whose name you work for will give you the power to carry on.

Be brave and continue fighting! Fight even if you may not see how you could ever overcome your many foes. The storm itself will strengthen you. The crashing waves themselves will carry you. The wind itself that threatened to blow you away will give you wings to soar!

Be strong and courageous, and do it. Don’t be afraid, nor be dismayed; for the LORD God, even my God, is with you. He will not fail you, nor forsake you, until all the work for the service of the LORD’s house is finished. – 1 Chronicles 28, WEBBE

We have to be braver than we think we can be, because God is constantly calling us to be more than we are.” – Madeleine L’Engle

I know what I want, I have a goal, an opinion, I have a religion and love. Let me be myself and then I am satisfied. I know that I’m a woman, a woman with inward strength and plenty of courage.
-Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

In the worst of situations, let us remember that we can still be human, we can still look at other people with a merciful heart. – Jocelyn Soriano

It’s never easy to be kind to those who harmed us. It’s never even easy to forgive, how much more to do good to those who did evil to us?

But a chain of one evil to another evil could never result in anything but more evil. And the violence that punishes another person, no matter how we deem to be just, punishes not only that person, but the one who administers the violence itself. Like a poison, it creeps into his heart until there is nothing there but bitterness. Like a two-edged sword, it pierces through his soul and claims his own humanity.

What difference shall there be between ourselves and our enemies if we merely do what they do, or if we do even worse? What right have we to hate evil if we have allowed darkness itself to reign in our souls?

Let us pray for the strength to resist the temptation to succumb to the evil we detest. It will never be easy, but with God, it is possible. Why would He tell us to love even our enemies if it couldn’t be done?

He said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for you have done good to me, whereas I have done evil to you. You have declared today how you have dealt well with me, because when the LORD had delivered me up into your hand, you didn’t kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him go away unharmed? Therefore may the LORD reward you good for that which you have done to me today.” – 1 Samuel 24, WEBBE

Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause. – St. John of Kanty

We must learn to guard our hearts. Even if we see everyone else risking theirs, even if we feel out of place, even if it means not getting a shortcut to reaching a goal we desire, we must protect what’s within us.

We cannot exchange outward success to our inner ruin. We can never find happiness if we lose the substance of who we really are.

Under all circumstances, guard your heart. For what use is everything else if we lose what’s truly important in us?

How could we ever find happiness when we have ruined the heart, which alone can taste love and beauty and joy?

With all vigilance guard your heart,
for in it are the sources of life.
-Proverbs 4, NABRE