Catholics From The United States

"The Catholic Church, and our Catholic faith, is the answer to this darkness and bringing people into relationship with Jesus and teaching the dignity of the human person are the best ways of changing people’s attitudes and changing their behavior"

"To me it is really beautiful and it really expresses the catholicity of the Church, that the people have embraced the faith as something that is truly theirs, something that is truly meaningful to them. They don't look upon it as something foreign, as something coming from the outside."

"I was sure it wouldn't be here because it was my home parish, I received all my sacraments here and I expect I will be buried here. This is a densely populated archdiocese and the work is staggering."

"We have to make sure that we always recognize that we don't own the sacraments, the sacraments are the work of Christ. It is he who comes to us ... and it's his grace that takes precedence over everything else. Therefore we should see in each of those encounters with Christ in the sacraments a sacred experience even beyond our comprehension. And the one, of course, that's the supreme of everything is the Eucharist, because that's when Christ sacrificed on Calvary. We're fed with the same food that the disciples were fed at the Last Supper, and the same blood of the covenant from the cross is given to us. So again, it's Christ who is there, Christ offering the sacrifice. We are with him but it is he who does it all, it is he who feeds us."

"When you’re asked to be a mediator in a difficult conflict in your parish, being obedient to that call to be the peacemaker. When you are called stand up for some strong truth, a difficult truth, being obedient to your call to the priesthood. When you are called to give your people Mass at a time when it’s inconvenient for you but convenient for them, well, consider that option and be obedient to the call of needs of your people. That is a deeper obedience, your ability to hear God’s will in your vocation."

"I’d also like to say to our priests: we can’t fail to talk to our people about these real sins that affect the lives of our people. If we talk about sins they don’t commit, of what good is that?"

"When you pass legislation that forces people of faith to put aside what they believe, their deeply held beliefs, that’s not going to create any kind of unity. That’s not going to help the society or the culture, it’s not even going to help the people that struggle with these issues."

"The nice thing about working in wood is that even a dead tree, in a way is a living medium. The wood does simply do whatever you want, but you have to cooperate with the kind of medium that it is."

"We want parents and teachers to regularly have conversations with young men and women about God's plan for their lives. These should be ordinary conversations; otherwise, when the topic of vocations comes up, it seems like something arcane, unfamiliar, or mysterious."

"I think that with a lot of these institutions, those that have this different worldview have been shrewd, in a sense, in trying to take them over in terms of leadership and then to reorient them to form young people in ways that are contrary. It’s kind of contrary, some of the reaction we’ve gotten is almost like, ‘How could you dare do this?’ It’s as if not only do they have a right to their own vision of the human person and marriage and family life, but we have an obligation to turn our young people over to them to be formed in these values. We’re going to have to be much more vigilant as Christians and as Catholics about with whom we partner and who we invite in, particularly with regard to the formation of our young people."

"We should not believe so much in cultures and forget about God’s role in our lives. We should always keep in mind that all good relationships and families are built on principles of love and trustworthiness."

"I feel blessed and grateful to serve in a double calling as a priest and Navy chaplain. Not everyone is called to my life, but according to my way of thinking, had I not been there, these sailors and Marines would not have been able to receive the sacraments that we Catholics believe are so important. That is why I encourage our priests and seminarians with an interest to consider a life as a military chaplain. Some will find they really enjoy it."

"Closeness to God, first in prayer. Be faithful to that. Closeness to our priests, being close to them. Not being a brother, but being a father, and accompany them in their ministry. Being close to the people of God, whom we serve. It's something that since becoming a bishop, as a priest I was doing."

"In a world of billions of Christians of many traditions, we always have been a little church. However, like the mustard seed, we can grow. And, even if we remain small, we are like a pinch of yeast in a loaf of bread. We share our traditions and spirit to influence and enrich all the Christian Churches. Our Easter icon is known and our Easter greetings can be heard in many traditions as well as in our own."

"It concerns not only the Catholic Church but all believing citizens (and even non-believers), adhering to any religious denomination present in the United States, because this governmental action could make it clear that, with the pretext of the implementation of legislation of social and health interest, it can act at any moment against the religious liberty of any citizen."

"There is a romance with the people of God. To know that you're building up the Kingdom of God, you who have been called and been given that grace, Jesus Christ is working through you in a very special way. I can’t save anybody personally, but I can through the Church through that I serve."

"We are trying to maintain who we are. We want to praise Jesus using the language and the customs with which we first encountered Him."

"It is obvious that wise, strong and prophetic moral leadership is needed in Papua New Guinea in order to bring hope to a people that has lost its way in many areas of life. Parish priests, especially indigenous Papua New Guinea priests, motivated by a genuine and humble love for their flock, true and dedicated pastoral charity, should provide such leadership for the people entrusted to them by their bishop."

"Many of the Dioceses of Papua have been gifted with an old evangelization: the Christian population has grown and has received an excellent education. Today, in the new social and cultural context, opportunities to transmit the faith have decreased and new roads and new ways to bring the Gospel to children, youth and families are needed."

"Unleash The Gospel is not a numbers game. It's about falling in love with the one who loves us, and that's a person-by-person change."

"I had spent almost 10 years in South America in Cali, Colombia, and I knew Spanish. I had organizational and administrative skills to work on those three areas. I don’t take credit, everyone said those were the needs, and we worked together to solve those needs."

"God speaks, we listen, and that's the whole process of discernment. Everybody has discernment all their life, what have I been blind to, and what do I need to do to recognize the presence of God in my life?"

"I’ll just simply say we haven’t done any apologetics in a concerted fashion since Vatican II. I don’t know why. I’m still trying to figure this out myself—why did apologetics became a bad word, why did it become a reflection of some kind of inauthenticity of faith? We’ve somehow drifted into a Kierkegaardianism—we have to take a leap of faith across an infinite chasm. But I’ve never thought that at all! I luckily had great teachers who believed reason and faith came from the same source, with God never intending us to jump over an infinite chasm."

"Philosophy of science can bring a strong array of analytical and synthetic tools to questions of ultimate causation, ultimate reality and “the whole of reality” because these questions are both physical and metaphysical—entailing methodological procedures from both science and philosophy."

"Regarding the moral obligation to oppose laws that go against the right of parents to educate their children according to their faith, and against religious freedom, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith said it both ways: Catholics cannot positively approve these laws, and they also have a moral obligation to oppose them."

"Our purpose in the Church is to share the light of Christ. We cannot allow scandals to impede our sharing of the Good News."

"What in our lives could be more important than receiving the Body and Blood of Christ each week? Recall how, for many of us who participated in team sports or band, we had to practice before the next game or concert. Well, by going to Mass every week, we become better Christians and most certainly have a better understanding of Jesus’ “game plan” for each and every one of us, as well as for the human family. As in sports, if you continue to miss practice, you become less and less an effective member of the team. While Mass is much more than practice, I hope you get the point."

"The laity are called to make Jesus present in the world, in everyday life, going out without fear to bring our faith to the streets, to the shopping center, to school, to parks, to sport, at work, in hospital, in culture, to transform temporal realities according to the values of the Kingdom."

"We must all work together to spread the Gospel for the salvation of the world."

"I was thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to make a difference in the world. I wanted to work with people. I knew I was not cut out for farming."

"I think you approach everything from the viewpoint of the parish priest and when the bishop asks you to do something else, you do it the best you can."

"Holiness isn’t something that just happens. It’s something that is nurtured, something that grows, something that is benefited by things like rhythm, stability — if you're always rushing and never quite can fit in your nightly prayers, well, then you wind up not praying a lot of times."

"In the past, some media has tried to portray this effort as inimical to the ecumenical effort, and that cannot be further from the truth. For one thing, Anglicanorum coetibus was a generous, pastoral response by Pope Benedict XVI to groups of people who were making a direct request of the Holy See. It is also ecumenically significant in that it demonstrates, perhaps for the first time, that corporate, Eucharistic unity is possible in a way that does not simply assimilate. The ecumenical principle that informs Anglicanorum coetibus is that unity in the profession of Catholic faith allows for a vibrant diversity in the expression of that same faith. That is, to my mind, exactly what ecumenical dialogues have been building towards."

"The role of a bishop is to be a teacher, one who teaches primarily by example."

"It would make no sense whatsoever to say, "Well, we shouldn’t honor Catholics who present the antithesis of our Catholic doctrine, but there’s really no problem whatsoever provided the person’s not a Catholic," that evades common sense."

"Christ has infinite patience with us. When we have doubts and fears, He never stops reaching out to us with his love. He wants us to love Him back, he wants us to trust him completely. We sometimes lack faith because the realities of the world press in on us: a financial situation, a job situation, a difficulty in the family, and other factors. When these concerns cloud our hearts, we begin to lose the clear vision of faith that frees us. Trust Christ! Have faith! Do not be afraid to trust Christ completely, offering Him your worries and fears, your joys and hopes. Jesus, I trust in you! This is the great exclamation of the Church. It is only through trust that you will begin to experience the depths of Christ's love for you. And when you begin to experience this love, deeply and profoundly in your lives, you cannot help but see the world around you differently."

"What the mathematically-oriented methods of modern physics do is to focus on those aspects of nature which can be strictly predicted and controlled and to ignore anything that doesn’t fit that method. As a result, physics tends brilliantly to uncover those aspects of reality that fit that method, and which can therefore be exploited technologically. But it simply does not follow that there are no other aspects of reality. To think otherwise is like the drunk’s fallacy of assuming that his lost car keys must be under the street lamp somewhere, because that is where the light is."

"Mary teaches us in prayer, in the Rosary, that’s one thing; but in those cultural traditions as well – in the traditions of the Garifuna people, in the traditions of the Maya, the Kriol, the Mestizo, are all round our country – ways that bring us together, across generations, and help us to squeeze that poison out of our society. So newly-elected Bishop Lawrence Nicasio: lead us; guide us; show us how to use the ruguma, just as Jesus said: Remain in my love, that my love might be in you and your love might be complete; that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete. This is my command; love one another, as I have loved you. So show us how to integrate the daily prayer of the Rosary, as Mary instructed us at Fatima; teach us how to live the Garifuna greeting: darangila, luma, esieni – peace and love"

"I'm a sinner, too. I don't have all the perfect answers. My goal is not to carry out Chuck Thompson’s vision or Chuck Thompson’s teachings. I’ve been entrusted with the care of souls in central and southern Indiana, and I’ve been entrusted to do that, and to use as my markers the teachings of the Church."

"We are surrounded by darkness and are afraid to venture out. Unless we do, however, we will not find God, because it is only by leaving what is safe and comfortable to pierce the darkness that we will find the light of God. This is a fitting metaphor for the spiritual pilgrimage that all of us have to make out of our self-contained comfort zone into the wide world of God and God’s people in the Catholic Church."

"You can’t take the parish priest out of this bishop. I certainly admire those in specialized ministry, but all I wanted to be was a parish priest. I saw growing up in Oxnard these wonderful young priests, reaching out—they used to come and take us out of school, we would be spread-eagled over a U-Haul with food for the poor. That really attracted us. So many of us feel we were called to follow the example of many of those priests who really lived their ministry."

"I find joy in the celebration of Mass. Joy in sharing the Word of Life and the Bread of Life. There is joy in my heart when I witness the love united in marriage, and in pouring saving waters on the heads of little ones. My joy is in conveying to sinners God's forgiveness and in praying with the dying as they prepare to meet their Lord and Savior."

"Leading a simple life, Kateri remained faithful to her love for Jesus, to prayer and to daily Mass. Her greatest wish was to know and to do what pleased God. She lived a life radiant with faith and purity. Kateri impresses us by the action of grace in her life in spite of the absence of external help and by the courage of her vocation, so unusual in her culture. In her, faith and culture enrich each other! May her example help us to live where we are, loving Jesus without denying who we are. Saint Kateri, Protectress of Canada and the first native American saint, we entrust to you the renewal of the faith in the first nations and in all of North America! May God bless the first nations!"

"In this time of confusion and difficulty, it's great to look back at the accomplishments by so many in the Diocese. When I look back, I realize that I did a lot but now I'm ready to step back."

"It’s not just those people “out there”, in the world, who need conversion and cleansing, but also those of us who have been baptized into Christ and are members of his mystical Body. When Simon and Andrew abandoned their nets to follow Christ, they embarked on the path of conversion. But we know it was a long and often difficult path, filled with misunderstandings, failings, and, in the case of Peter, denial of the Lord. We also need constant conversion, for there is no time for anything else."

"The Lord has gifted an individual with life, and no one else has the right to take that away from someone that hasn't developed a voice themselves."

"The Cross is a reality in our lives, yet in the midst of suffering we see victory, in the midst of trouble, we experience hope. Our contemplation of the Cross is our contemplation of Christ, victim, priest, and king, the Cross stands at the center of our lives and our calling as Christians is to embrace the Cross, to embrace our reality, and to allow the Crucified One to lead us to new life. As we unite our struggles with the Cross of Christ we do so knowing what the Father did for Jesus, He will do for us, with faith in the Resurrection we find in meaning in the difficulties and suffering that we encounter in life."

"It is a new place to live and many new people to get to know, but one thing is always the same, and that is Jesus Christ. Our faith in Christ brings us through whatever we face and whatever he asks of us."

"Priests are doctors of the soul. I feel very blessed that I was able to pursue that, being a physician of the soul."

"The family is so important when it comes to nurturing vocations that, really, they are born from a family, we don't fall out of the sky at 33 years old, wearing flowing robes. We are not hatched; we come from families."