Catholics From The United States

"Christ is born. We say "is" not "was" because Christ is always with us. Christ does not desert us, we might desert him."

"Remaining faithful has to be the anchor. But part of what we have to be faithful to is getting the Gospel not to people of 1389 but 1989. Part of being faithful is appropriate change."

"I think that when I was growing up in as a child I was often given the impression that the church was divided into two classes the first class were the professionally holy they were the priests and sisters and the second class was everyone else's whose only job was to stay out of God's way."

"Some people say this is a time of darkness for the Church and especially for bishops and priests. But as Archbishop Fulton Sheen once observed, if you want to get out of the darkness, walk into the light. When we pray, that is just what we do."

"When the nuncio asked if I would accept the appointment, I remember thinking in that moment that I had promised obedience as a priest, and this was just another part of that obedience. I remember thinking afterwards that my whole life had suddenly changed with that one phone call, but I felt a sense of peace about it, and trusted that God knew what he was doing."

"m not sure how to say "wow" in Hawaiian, but I know how to say mahalo. I am humbled and touched by the gesture of aloha. In a very real way, honoring me is actually honoring hundreds of people."

"A personal good that has come out of all this is that my faith is deeper because of it. I think the spiritual effort it took to overcome my initial anger has made me more peaceful. I think the faith that is mine has grown because of the goodness of so many people. I see Christ reflected in these people, and I am encouraged. None of us in this life are alone. The Lord sends many wonderful people into our lives through whom he works."

"I went to Dodge City as the bishop of the diocese, you sent me there for 15 years. I didn't come back as a cowboy."

"I think questions should be welcome, because the only way that people will learn is asking questions. Now, there are two ways of asking questions: one is staking out a claim and another is genuinely seeking an answer."

"Voting is a solemn civic ceremony that has been won and defended by the blood of countless American men and women throughout our Nation’s history, up to the present day. Please exercise this precious right. For the Catholic, voting also has grave moral obligations and consequences. Voting can never be taken lightly nor be contrary to a well-formed conscience."

"I'm humbled, but if this is what God wants, if he kicks the ball in your direction, you might as well run with it. I honestly never thought about it for a minute before it happened that I would be named a bishop. I was surprised myself."

"For the good of God's Church and for my own peace of mind, I believe it is time of a younger man to take over the reins of office here in Newark. I have done my best and I am very happy now to step aside."

"There's a lot of blessing, too... having cancer. That may sound awful. I mean, first of all, so many people reached out to me. Expressing their concern and their prayers for me. You don't realize how many lives you've touched until something like this happens."

"[Imagining a telephone conversation between an advertising executive and Abraham Lincoln just before his Gettysburg Address] Hi Abe, sweetheart. How are you, kid? How's Gettysburg? ... Sort of a drag, heh? Well, Abe you know them small Pennsylvania towns, you seen one you seen 'em all. ... Listen Abe, I go the note. What's the problem? ... You're thinking of shaving it off? Abe, don't you see that's part of the image with the shawl and the stovepipe hat and the string tie? ... You don't have the shawl. Where's the shawl? ... You left it in Washington. What are you wearing, Abe? ... A sort of cardigan? Abe, don't you see that doesn't fit with the string tie and the beard> Abe, would you leave the beard on and get the shawl."

"Abe, you got the speech. ... Abe, you haven't changed the speech have you? ... Oh, Abe. What did you ya change the speech for? ... A couple of minor changes? ... I'll bet. All right, what are they? ... You what? You typed it! Abe, how many times have we told you — on the backs of envelopes. ... I understand it’s harder to read that way, but it looks like you wrote it on the train coming down."

"Humor is a very, very important part of our life. It's not just laughing at a joke, it's an attitude toward life. And as the world gets crazier, it's more important to laugh at it. It's a survival technique."

"Each season has a particular grace. So Advent is the grace to realize the complete gratuity of grace."

"I had lived my entire religious life, until I came here to Rome, in a Dominican priory, mostly in Washington or in New Haven, Conn. In those places, the hermeneutic of continuity and reform, if I may put it that way, was lived. I never experienced the Council as a rupture. It's interesting — only as I've begun to read this traditionalist literature and interpretation have I begun to understand that, in a certain sense, there are problems that are real."

"While beauty and joy should surround a Christian wedding, we must remind everyone that it is a sacrament, not a show."

"That question is very easy to answer. It's the brotherhood. The camaraderie that we have, I don't think you can replicate that any place else in the world."

"Some seek the spotlight, and others have it thrust upon them. Senior Chief Special Warfare Operator (SEAL/FMF/SW) Ed Byers reluctantly enters that spotlight Monday when he receives the nation's highest valor award for rushing through gunfire to save an American hostage. Byers, 37, will be presented with nation's highest valor award on Monday, for his actions during a 2012 hostage rescue in Afghanistan, and with it the obscurity of his life in the SEAL teams will forever vanish."

"I'm not charismatic in the classical sense. I have a certain passion for life, and I think people sometimes use the word "intense" to describe me."

"It's not necessarily anything I welcome, but it's part of my job now. This isn't something we ask for, this is something that is bestowed upon you. And with it comes some obligations."

"The award puts Byers in rare company. Since 9/11, 17 service members have received the Medal of Honor. Byers will be just the third sailor, and of them the only one who lived through the action that earned the award."

"For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as a Hostage Rescue Force Team Member in Afghanistan in support of Operation ENDURING FREEDOM from 8 to 9 December 2012. As the rescue force approached the target building, an enemy sentry detected them and darted inside to alert his fellow captors. The sentry quickly reemerged, and the lead assaulter attempted to neutralize him. Chief Byers with his team sprinted to the door of the target building. As the primary breacher, Chief Byers stood in the doorway fully exposed to enemy fire while ripping down six layers of heavy blankets fastened to the inside ceiling and walls to clear a path for the rescue force. The first assaulter pushed his way through the blankets, and was mortally wounded by enemy small arms fire from within. Chief Byers, completely aware of the imminent threat, fearlessly rushed into the room and engaged an enemy guard aiming an AK- 47 at him. He then tackled another adult male who had darted towards the corner of the room. During the ensuing hand-to-hand struggle, Chief Byers confirmed the man was not the hostage and engaged him. As other rescue team members called out to the hostage, Chief Byers heard a voice respond in English and raced toward it. He jumped atop the American hostage and shielded him from the high volume of fire within the small room. While covering the hostage with his body, Chief Byers immobilized another guard with his bare hands, and restrained the guard until a teammate could eliminate him. His bold and decisive actions under fire saved the lives of the hostage and several of his teammates. By his undaunted courage, intrepid fighting spirit, and unwavering devotion to duty in the face of near certain death, Chief Petty Officer Byers reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

"The prophets in Hebrew Scripture and Jesus in the Gospels are figures in conflict with the religious establishment. They denounce the use of religion to sacralize unjust privilege and to ignore the needs of the people. Prophetic faith announces a God who is active in history, to overturn an unjust social order and to transform the world into a new social order where there will be no more war, no more injustice, where justice between people and harmony with nature has been restored and all creation will be in communion with God."

"The word of God comes through the prophet to denounce the unjust practices of the rich and powerful who grind the faces of the poor and oppress the widow and the orphan. The prophet also denounces the corruption of biblical religion itself into a religious establishment that has become purely cultic and has turned away from the social meaning of faith, which is justice and mercy."

"For me, my most ardent desire has been to help people come to know, love and live Jesus more completely at a time when secular influences sometimes make it difficult for people to hear and be receptive to the Gospel. That is why I have been especially grateful to serve as a diocesan bishop, because the needs of our people are so great, as are the opportunities to serve them more effectively."

"The parish is the most important element of the Church; that's where Christian Catholic life gets its source and energy."

"I would hope that people see me as a shepherd and that people will grow to trust me. Trust is important in our life together, and I want to do what I can to establish trust. As for how I would like people to understand me, I would appreciate people recognizing that my task is to establish, along with the clergy and lay faithful, a vision for our future in southern Illinois. A key responsibility I have is to foster and preserve unity among us as we move into the future."

"Established religion sees religious faith as the sacred ideology of the dominant social order. Religion is the 'handmaiden' of the ruling class. It defines this established social order as one that has been created by God and is the reflection of the divine will. Its words for God reflect the titles of the rulers. God and the rulers are called by the same names and are imaged as looking alike. The rulers thus appear to be like God, to have a special closeness to God and to represent God on earth."

"Prophetic faith, by contrast, sets God in tension with the ruling class by having God speak, through the prophet, as advocate of the poor and the oppressed."

"In our parishes, what people first need to do is pay attention to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and ponder what it teaches and try to live it. That’s where you start. What does Jesus teach us? Love God with your whole being, and love your neighbor as yourself. He tells us that our neighbor is everybody! So people — Black and White, African-American or European-American — you start with Jesus of Nazareth."

"I came into a place I did not know. I had to learn everything. I'm at a place that I know the area, and I know a lot of people, and I know the job, but still, "How can I do it to reach more people, do it better?" So the challenge is still learning."

"The Lord is the center of our prayer, the rest of us, we are there to adore Him."

"I'm so blessed by the Lord, the way He has revealed Himself to me through His Eucharist, and by the priests who have supported me all these years, and the people."

"We're trying to prevent terrorism with all this security legislation, and yet we've got five to eight million people living and working among us and we don't even know who they are. How can you have security that way?"

"Joint commissions would foster the ecclesial communion which sustains our episcopal collegiality and become suitable forums in which we address together problems that seem almost intractable when we try to address them in isolation from one another."

"Breath is the essence of life, and yet is it so subtle… The Spirit is also subtle, and mysterious to us, yet He is the breath that is gentle, yet so present, and so powerful because we need Him to have life."

"The new evangelization called for five hundred years after the first evangelization of America requires a new catechesis as its "engine", in order to provide the lay faithful with the comprehensive understanding of their faith to allow them to embrace Christ's mission of transforming the world with confidence."

"This will no doubt be a challenge for many and will require grace and patience from all of us, however, if we remain focused on Jesus and his call for us to be his missionary disciples, he will show us the way."

"The priest and bishop who strove to do the Lord's will, is the priest and bishop who thus allowed others to see and believe Jesus."

"I ask all to continue to pray for the unborn who died, for all those who have experienced the pain of abortion, and for those who cannot understand our divine and steadfast calling to champion this cause."

"There are lots of people who are dealing with loved ones who are in crisis. It's a quiet work of charity, and obviously they need all the help they can get. Let people know that they're not alone when it comes to mental health."

"My biggest wish for people this Easter Sunday is peace, hope, and also sharing of that peace and hope with one another. A spirit of unity, and common ground that we all need the love and the promise we all believe Easter Sunday is all about."

"A good friend and a beloved shepherd of the Maronite Catholic community."

"I find that our faithful are divided into groups according to their attachment to their roots: Many of the people have emigrated to the USA in the late 19th Century through the early 20th Century. We have lost many of those people due to the lack of pastors. A large group has emigrated due to the instability in the last forty-five years: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the civil war in Lebanon, the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, there is a group who severs all ties with the Middle East."

"As he was leaving the room, he said it a third time, “You are a very young bishop." By this time, I had the courage to respond, "Your Holiness, you have yourself to blame for that.""

"If it's not in your heart, it's not going to work."

"I can honestly say, not with any reference to myself at all, that the Holy See always had a tremendous respect for the archdiocese of Philadelphia and in particular for the seminary. The fact that the Holy See was constantly asking the archdiocese for priests to serve in the Vatican in our diplomatic service indicated the respect that the Holy Father and the Vatican the Holy See had for Philadelphia."