Religion

"Prayer refines the soul and makes us particularly apt to understand other people. Also, it increases our generosity, our optimism, our affability in social relations, and our gratitude--all being virtues that facilitate the way of friendship for the Christian." Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God

"Jesus sought and encouraged the friendship of all he met on the roads of Palestine. He always made use of conversation in order to get to the bottom of their souls and fill them with love." Francis Fernandez, In Conversation with God

The Solemnity of the Ascension. The hardest mystery to understand. None of them can really be understood, of course, but this one is the hardest. I accept the immortality of the soul. It squares with the ontological facts we can discern. But the assumption of the body into heaven, with

> Whoever wishes to carry the cross for his sake must take up the proper weapons for the contest, especially those mentioned here. First, diligence; second, distrust of self; third, confidence in God; fourth, remembrance of Passion; fifth, mindfulness of one's own death; sixth, remembrance of God'

"Without humility, there is no way of conquering anger." St. John Climacus

Hats off to Amy Welborn. I could say that for a lot of reasons, but her straightforward-yet-penetrating insight into all the blather about the Catholic Church and its youth (e.g., youth are ignorant about their faith, youth don't care about their faith, etc.) is excellent.

> It is also well after a few years to reread the very good books which have already done us much good. Life is short: we should be content to read and read again whatever bears the mark of God, and not to lose our time on things that are

I missed this story last week: Muslim parents force British elementary schools to remove gay marriage books from the curriculum [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=553008&in_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770&expand=true] . I don&

"The crosses with which our path through life is strewn associate us with Jesus in the mystery of His crucifixion." St. John Eudes