Our being is silent, but our existence is noisy. Our actions tend to be noisy but when they stop, there is a ground of silence which is always there. Our job as contemplatives is to be in contact with that ground and to communicate from that level. We have to keep silence alive for other people, as well as for ourselves because no one else is doing it. . . There is a supreme injustice in noisemaking. . .So our service to the world might simply be to keep a place where there is no noise, where people can be silent together. This is an immense service if only because it enables people to believe such a thing is still possible. Think of the despair of people who have given up all hope of ever having real silence where they can simply be alone quietly. . .People don’t want to hear any more words. `

-Thomas Merton

The holy exercise of prayer must be considered one of the chief foundations of Christian life and holiness, since the whole life of Jesus Christ was nothing but a perpetual prayer; which you must continue and express in your life. Neither the earth on which you live, the air you breathe, the bread that sustains you, or the heart that beats in your breast is as necessary for bodily life as prayer is to a Christian – . . . Look upon prayer as the first, the principal, the most necessary, the most urgent, and the most important business of your life. As far as possible, free yourself from all less important duties, so you can give as much time as possible to prayer, especially in the morning and evening.

-St. John Eudes

May your love draw down upon you the mercy of the Lord, and may he let you see that within your soul a saint is sleeping. I shall ask him to make you so open and supple that you will be able to understand and do what he wants you to do. Your life is nothing; it is not even your own. Each time you say ‘I’d like to do this or that,’ you wound Christ, robbing him of what is his. You have to put to death everything within you except the desire to love God. This is not at all hard to do. It is enough to have confidence and to thank the little Jesus for all the potentialities he has placed within you. You are called to holiness, like me, like everyone. Don’t forget.

– Jacques Fesch

What precisely is our purpose? If we do not know the answer, we are wearing ourselves out for nothing. A traveler without a route suffers all the exhaustion of his journey and gets nowhere. The aim of our journey is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Heaven. And our purpose must be purity of heart, for without this, no one will gain the kingdom. Let us fix our mind on purity of heart; this will plot our path and enable us to run straight ahead, confident of where we are heading. And if our thoughts sometimes stray, let us return to this purity at once. This one aim will set us on a straight path, so that all our effort will contribute to our single goal.

– St. John Cassian

For most people, daily life in the secular world is the place where transformation in Christ is worked out. Like the Pharisee, one can be in religious life and not be transformed. So, what is it that makes the difference between the daily transformed life and the religious untransformed life? It’s the hidden action of the Kingdom of God that works not so much through external circumstances as through a radical change in our attitudes. This is what transformation is. It is not going on pilgrimage or entering a special state of life. It is how we live where we are and what we do with those circumstance.

– Father Thomas Keating, O.C.S.O.

In all trouble, you should seek God. . . .God can only relieve your troubles if you in your anxiety cling to Him. Trouble should not really be thought of as this incident or that in particular, for our whole life on earth involves trouble; and through the troubles of our earthly pilgrimage we find God.

– Saint Augustine

Remember that your soul is a temple of the living God. The kingdom of God is within you. Night and day let your aim be to remain in simplicity and gentleness, calmness and serenity, and in freedom from created things, so that you will find your joy in the Lord Jesus. Love silence and solitude, even when in the midst of a crowd or when caught up in your work. Physical solitude is a good thing, provided that it is backed up by prayer and a holy life, but far better than this is solitude of the heart, which is the interior desert in which your spirit can become totally immersed in God, and can hear and savor the words of eternal life. With great purity of intention, aim in everything to do what pleases God. Always remain faithful to God and genuinely accept whatever he wishes.

– St. Paul of the Cross

Prayer never touches us as long as it remains on the surface of our lives, as long as it is nothing but one more of the thousand things that must be done. It is only when prayer becomes ‘the one thing necessary’ that real prayer begins . . . We are called upon to live Christ’s life. We are called into the desert . . . We are called to face God alone in the night of our own solitude. We are called to die with Jesus, in order to live with him. We are asked to lose all, to be emptied out, in order to be filled with the very fullness of God . . . Christianity is much more than an expression of brotherly love couched in religious terms. It is essential that each person make some kind of personal response to God in Christ.

– James Finley

Coming to Mass on Sunday is to come to make our alliance with God real. Each Sunday Mass is living the alliance that teaches me to respect God . . . Facing Him, I have to dethrone all of the idols that want to take God’s place in my heart: the idols of power, of wealth, of licentiousness – the idols of all of these things that separate men from God. Sunday has to be for us, the alliance with the Lord that is renewed.

– Archbishop Oscar Romero

Joy does not depend on acclaim, advancement, promotion, recognition, fame, prestige, or power. Joy can never come from without. It can only come from the Lord who plants it deep within us. If our joy is contingent upon affirmation, success or career, it is planted in sand and will never endure. Actually, our joy should have nothing to do with where we work, what we are doing, or any external reward or recognition we get. It only depends on who we are, not what we do or have. We are beloved of the Father, configured to his Son, alive with his grace, sealed with his promise. Everything else is extra. If we’re counting on anyone or anything outside of the Lord to cause our joy, we’re setting ourselves up for a fall.

– Cardinal Timothy Dolan