God has set up churches like harbors along the coast, so that you may take refuge there out of the swirl of earthly cares and find peace and quiet.

-St. John Chrysostom

Lord, I commit my failures as well as my successes into your hands, and I bring for your healing the people and the situations, the wrongs and the hurts of the past. Give me courage, strength and generosity to let go and move on, leaving the past behind me, and living the present to the full.

Lead me always to be positive as I entrust the past to your mercy, the present to your love,and the future to your providence.

-From a prayer by St. Augustine

We are not on earth to guard a museum,

but to tend a blooming garden full of life.

– St. John XXIII

Teach us, Loving God, to do the little things as though they were great because it is you who does them in us and who lives in our life.

Teach us to do the greatest things as though they were little and easy because of the example of your omnipotence.

• Blaise Pascal

Wisdom instructs her children and admonishes those who seek her.  He who loves her loves life; those who seek her out win her favor.   He who holds her fast inherits glory wherever he dwells, the Lord bestows blessings.

-Sirach 4:11-13

A person who realizes the particular evil of his time and finds that it overwhelms him, dives deep in his heart for inspiration, and when he gets it he presents it to others.

-Gandhi

The Divine Spirit purifies the image of God in my soul by faith.  He cures my spiritual blindness, opens my eyes to the things of God.   He takes possession of my will so that I no longer remain a captive of my own passions and compulsions, but am able to act in the fruitful tranquility of spiritual freedom.

-Thomas Merton

Generous God, open our eyes to your presence in our lives. Help us to discover how your gifts free us from the limitations of human experience and social expectations.  Help us to explore your ceaseless layers of wisdom so that we may move closer to your truth.

– Sisters of Bon Secours Prayer Book, In God’s Hands we Pray, Volume III

Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common.
Celebrate it every day.
– Anonymous

Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let’s not be afraid to receive each day’s surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and celebrate more fully our shared humanity.

-Henri Nouwen