Catholics From The United States

"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."

"Many of the young have not rejected the faith — in many ways, they've never been exposed to it. We know the message of Jesus Christ does fill the longing of the human heart. But to those who have discovered the emptiness of that world, the priesthood can fill their hearts. Young people desire challenge, identity, mission."

"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."

"In the context of the priesthood, which flows out of society, there is a particular challenge to help men grow in manly virtue. The priesthood is not for the faint of heart, but for men who are up to the challenge of living as Christ in laying down their life on a daily basis."

"Our source of strength is daily prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, as well as daily Eucharist...Like other daily appointments, prayer (our appointment with God), needs to be scheduled."

"The character that the priest receives is a comfort to the faithful inasmuch as they realize that their faith is not based in the personality of the priest, but rather the Person of Christ working through the priest. On the other hand, the priest is called, like all of the faithful, to a life of holiness. The character received at ordination is actually a dynamism for priestly holiness. The more he can assimilate his life to Christ and submit to the gift he received at ordination, the more he will be a credible witness to the faithful and edify the Body of Christ."

"The Catholic Church in the U.S. has been fighting this battle to preserve its religious freedom for several years now. And this battle probably will not be resolved in the next few weeks. We must remain firm in our convictions and not succumb to accommodations, including third-party payments of premiums for coverages that are contrary to our beliefs. Most of all, we must pray. Pray that the courts and judges will protect our First Amendment rights, which are given to us by God, not by the government. Pray for God’s protection. And pray for our country, which was settled and established by people who had a deep desire and made great sacrifices to secure religious freedom for themselves, their families and their descendants."

"I will be ordained as a bishop for the universal church, particularly for the Diocese of Brooklyn and that is a diocese with many ethnicities, those ethnicities form something like a mosaic or a stained-glass window in the church with many elements, one of the elements of that mosaic or stained glass is the Polish culture."

"Because of our baptism, we're called to do our best to help our brothers and sisters. Love of God, love of neighbor summarizes scripture according to the Lord Jesus. And our donation may seem insignificant with the great needs that are present around the world. But a raindrop is insignificant... you put enough together and it makes a mighty river. And so if everyone would just do what they can and we put them into the hands of the Lord and let the Lord make a difference because of our efforts."

"Taking the time to get to know those you are called to serve, both the priests as well as the people, make sure that they know that you love them and you are there to serve them and be with them."

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

"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."

"We are very blessed to have been sibling brothers, brother priests and now brother bishops."

"Whenever I meet someone, talk to someone on the phone, it’s a great feeling, knowing you’ve made their day or that they love the show and they love watching. I mean, it gives them something to do. It’s a great feeling."

"People do feel very entitled to say something negative as if that is their job, or if they have any reason, or as if they know that much. They usually don’t. So, I find it kind of funny, honestly. And, that’s how I deal with a lot of things, and that’s how I would deal with a bullying situation, is that I would try and find humor in it."

"I think the beauty of Catholicism is its consistency through both successes and difficulties. I’ve counted on my faith to give me strength through both training and competition — but also in school, with my family and everyday life. So while my goals in the pool have changed, my faith remains something that’s consistent and something I can always rely on."

"It has been fascinating to see other cultures, and to see how sports can serve to link these cultures together, even if just momentarily. An interesting common thread I see is the importance of sports in these cultures, the passion that exists for sports and athletic accomplishment. It is wonderful that sports can have this kind of impact on people, and one can only hope that sports and competition will therefore have a positive impact on how various nations view each other."

"An important term for us in the church is solidarity. We are brothers and sisters first because of that shared baptism, and there’s even deep solidarity simply because we’re all created by the same God."

"A person without hope is doomed to failure, and one of the great gifts God has given us is the gift of faith, which tells us about his love for us and our love for him. Because of that faith, there is this great hope. Jesus validated this by his resurrection. No matter how difficult life can be, there is the ultimate hope for salvation and peace in the Resurrection."

"The general reason for development in the liturgy is just the deepening awareness of the awesomeness of these mysteries and the desire to give them the best we can, to pay homage to them, to surround them with beautiful singing and incense and the homage of silence, all these things. Maybe what was done in a simpler way earlier, it becomes more elaborate as time goes on and as people want to celebrate and rejoice in this great mystery and give it their very best."

"The world is haunted by Calvarys. Yet, by God’s grace and in God’s plan, Calvary isn’t the end of the story. While the cross of Calvary repulses us and shames us, confronting us with death and humiliation, with the injustice and betrayal of which we are all capable, the same cross – transformed by God’s power and grace – is also the means through which we achieve life and rebirth."

"Prayer is a relationship with God, probably the most personal and intimate aspect of our lives. My ministry as a bishop has expanded my vision of prayer, and even though prayer has always been a part of my life, I would say one thing that has grown is my intercessory prayer. There are so many individuals and things to pray for. With the mission of bishop, and as a shepherd to the faithful, I first and foremost want to reach out to everyone, and there’s no better way to do that than through prayer. I have a deeper consciousness of inner prayer, and bringing to the heart of Christ the intercession that has been entrusted to me."

"The church has always been the center of our our life for our family, it's our spiritual home and I thinks it's kept us balanced and helped us get through some tough times, I don't know where I'd be without my faith."

"Let us in our own day and age, in this 21st century become witnesses to the resurrection. There are a million ways to do that, but we essentially do that by bearing in our heart an unquenchable joy. And we carry that, maybe, in the depth of our heart when life gets tough, and it’s been tough, and when life gets overwhelming, and it’s been overwhelming, when we have experienced tragedy, and we have. There is always in the depth of our heart a measure of joy that can only come from Jesus himself, that can only come from the assurance that he has been raised from the dead."

"We should admit some of the ineffective practices of our past labors. This confrontation needs be embraced by all of us on a personal level, at the local parish and throughout the diocese. There are many ways in which we can do this and now move forward. The mission of Christ is being strengthened."

"We need a new way of looking at and engaging in evangelization. It cannot be business as usual. We’ve seen a hemorrhaging of our young people from the Church. So in recent years, this has become another of my priorities. We have to take on the characteristics of an apostolic Church, rather than a church enjoying the glories of Christendom. Our focus must be to make Jesus Christ known and loved. Our pastors can’t be CEOs. We’re not a business. I’ve been pleased to see that many of our priests have responded well to the call for a New Evangelization."

"I know Colorado to be a beautiful land of beautiful people and I look forward to serving the faithful of Pueblo as their shepherd in Christ. I eagerly anticipate our future together as we grow and build our local church."

"How can the Society of St. Pius X refuse to submit to the authority of John Paul II whom they recognize as pope? The traditional Code of Canon Law (Canon 1325) defines the schismatic as one who refuses to submit to the authority of the Sovereign Pontiff. Since they have no jurisdiction from him, no canonical mission from him, and, as a matter of fact, their bishops have been excommunicated by him, how can they honestly not recognize the reality of their position? If John Paul II is the pope, as the Society of St. Pius X openly professes, then how can they not consider themselves anything other than schismatics? As for the future of the Catholic Church, it is entirely in the hands of God; however, it is an implicit denial of the infallibility of the Church to claim that the Conciliar Church is somehow still the Catholic Church."

"The Son of God became a Man for our sake. To redeem us He died upon the cross. To re-present His bloody sacrifice of the cross in an unbloody manner, to memorialize it until the end of time and to apply its fruits, He instituted the New Testament priesthood and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is this priesthood and this Mass that the reformers have tried to take from us. But God has not allowed them to be completely successful. I have no doubt myself that He raised up Archbishop Lefebvre to contribute to the continuation of the priesthood and the true Mass. And now by God's mercy we also are in a position to help contribute to the continuation of the priesthood and the true Mass. For this we are grateful to him and to the late Bishop Alfred Mendez who, as one priest said, took a 'most courageous step for the preservation of our holy Catholic Faith in this age of modernism.'"

"So much depends upon a priest’s personality. All you have are priests who have been validly ordained who are doing the best they can to sustain the Church and to save souls. People get upset when they hear about priests fighting and they are really consoled when they see other priests coming for a visit. They yearn to be part of something bigger. That’s the attraction of the SSPX — a parallel church."

"You have the SSPX problem of taking decrees and doctrinal pronouncements from the people that they theoretically recognize as the Pope have to pass in review in front of the Superiors of the Society who decide which of them are in accord with Tradition and which are not. This was the idea of sifting – the French word was cribler – they do the sifting. And, that seems like a pretty dead end to me, because I don’t see that anywhere in a Catholic theology book. We know that the Church can’t defect. It’s contrary to the nature of the Church. But we know that the Church does not cease to exist when you don’t have a Pope for a while, not even for a long time. There’s no theologian who says that."

"... we have labored under Modernism for these sixty years, and have watched with horror the disintegration of everything that made our Faith beautiful: Catholic doctrine, good and holy priests, an abundance of devout and zealous religious brothers and nuns, Catholic schools, Catholic universities, Catholic seminaries teeming with holy seminarians aspiring to the priesthood, the traditional Latin Mass, traditional sacraments, the Legion of Decency, religious habits, priests in cassocks and Roman collars, magnificent churches, elaborate ceremonies, Gregorian chant and other beautiful church music, discipline, orthodoxy, modest dress, good morals. I could go on. What I describe is the world of my childhood which, at the time, I took for granted, but which I loved and cherished."

"It is hard for me to even conceive of the traditional movement without Father Cekada. Together we made a good team, each contributing the preservation and defense of the Catholic Faith against the onslaughts of the modernists."

"Novus Ordo conservatives are ecclesiastical materialists. They can see only the continuity of lifeless institutions from pre- to post- Vatican II, and from that they conclude that salvation consists in adhering to these lifeless institutions. They see only the material side of the Church, its visible side, and turn a blind eye to the absence of the invisibles of the Church, especially the assistance of the Holy Ghost in keeping the Church free from error and defection."

"Religious indifferentism is the false belief, so often condemned by the Catholic Church, which holds that all religions are equally good and that men can attain salvation in the practice of any religion. This is manifestly false because God has revealed the true religion by which He is to be worshipped through His Only-begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was truly a historical person and He worked the most stupendous miracles to prove His Divine Mission. To maintain that all religions are acceptable is to imply that Jesus Christ wasted His time to reveal the true Faith and found the true Church. Why should He have accomplished this, if, in the final analysis, the man-made religions of the world would also be acceptable."

"So one of the questions I think Jesus is going to ask us on judgment day is not have we lived a good life, and not just have we lived the Gospel, he's going to ask us "Who have you made a disciple of in My name?" So that becomes the question for me and for you, who am I discipling right now?"

"You actually start the job on your knees, pray, because that's where the job puts you, instantly, on your knees, pray, because so many things are really to be put in God's hands, and to let God lead us, guide us, shape us, form us as we need to be."

"Catholicism has an essence like anything else, a very, very defined essence with many, many characteristics. If something defects from Catholicism, it is opposed to the Catholic Church. There can be nothing more opposed than a false rite which is supposed to be the vehicle of truth. It’s like an evil or poisonous medicine. The very purpose of medicine is to cure. Poison is contrary to the very essence of medicine, and so you know a false rite is just something that is totally unacceptable."

"Mini-series are my favorite medium to act in because it’s the right amount of pages you shoot a day, it’s the right amount of time that you’re with a character, and they really advertise it a lot, so that people get excited."

"For young actors, the more you can stand around or sit there—-even when you’re not shooting-—just sit there on the set and shut up for three hours, you’ll learn more in one day than you’ll ever learn in film school."

"God gave me this talent of being an actor, and I’m not going to waste it. That’s just who I am. I love working, and with five kids and a fantastic wife, I want to make sure I’m taking care of everyone. That’s what my dad did, and that’s what I’m going to do."

"To really grasp the depths of diabolical evil, you have to be prepared to engage in some honest self-reflection. You have to be able to humble yourself and search the inmost core of your being in order to discover your own capacity for evil. Everyone has a capacity for evil. And everyone—at some point in their lives—has made use of that capacity and acted in evil ways. In order to understand the kind of evil that characterizes the inhabitants of Hell, you must attempt to understand evil itself. And the only way to do that is to dig and probe deeply inside your own soul, despite any unpleasant things you might find."

"If someone came along and said that you or I were not human, we don’t want the law to make them believe we’re human. We want the law to protect our lives no matter what they believe. They have the freedom to believe what they want, and that’s what the pro-life movement is saying. These babies in the womb are identifiably, undeniably, scientifically human beings and, therefore, they should be protected by the law."

"It’s like, "Hey the house is on fire!" I’m not going to ask anybody’s permission to go scream that the house is on fire... that’s the distinction that I would make."

"I sincerely believe that too many Christians today are sleeping. They live a very comfortable Christianity. In the meantime Rome is burning. They just don’t realize that there’s a real spiritual war being waged right now. All our deepest beliefs and values are under attack. We’re under attack. And in many ways we’re losing. So with all due respect, I think many Christians need to wake up and get into the battle. The time for being nice and amiable is done. We have to mobilize and engage those who are opposing us in a very bold, aggressive, and fearless way—now."

"Like anything else that man makes, culture is nowhere pure, and is often shot through with dreadful evil. But it is in a way natural to man to cultivate a way of life that transcends the generations in time, and that in being reaches out to God himself. I suggest that the unnatural is to the natural as mass phenomena are to culture —especially the mass phenomena such as they are now."

"If you are a really serious student, you will be in science, or finance, or politics—you will be in the business of money or power. Everything is about ourselves. We don’t want to study other cultures. We want to make other people study about us, and from our preferred point of view. I say to students, “Here, let me teach you about Milton,” the author of the greatest poem in the English language. The students reply, “No, let us teach you about us.” Dear Narcissus, there is a great and beautiful world beyond that pool."

"The academic politician is interested in victory. He has the moral code of Machiavelli, but, because he is too impatient to submit to the instruction of history, he has not the old master’s shrewd sense of human limitations and contradictions. He makes the worst of rulers: he is neither a lover of truth, nor a practical man of the world, nor an habitual examiner of his all-too-human and persistent failings."

"Psychiatrists and other mental health professionals should employ modes of assessment that encourage the pursuit of truth. They must view this pursuit as central to their commitment to responsibility and remain skeptical of cultural idioms that come and go, such as the adolescent’s plaintive cry in transgender cases: “I am a boy trapped in a girl’s body!” This cry is never a factual report about the reality of her or his sex, but usually a cry for help, seizing upon a newly coined “idiom of distress”: “I’m so fearful and unsure of myself and my future, I must, as others claim, be living in the wrong body, trapped in the wrong sex.” Psychiatrists help not by “affirming” the bizarre conclusion but by seeking and treating the source of the generating fears."

"This intensely felt sense of being transgendered constitutes a disorder of ‘assumption’—the notion that a person’s maleness or femaleness is determined by feelings or behavior rather than by anatomy."