Background Image

...

Utilitarianism Is A Civilization Of Production And Of Use, A Civilization Of "things" And Not Of "persons," A Civilization In Which Persons Are Used In The Same Way As Things Are Used. In The Context Of A Civilization Of Use, Woman Can Become An Object For Man, Children A Hindrance To Parents, The Family An Institution Obstructing The Freedom Of Its Members.

-Pope John Paul II

...

Please Wait....
Translating....

Utilitarianism Is A Civilization

Pope John Paul II

...

Utilitarianism Is A Civilization Of Production And Of Use, A Civilization Of "things" And Not Of "persons," A Civilization In Which Persons Are Used In The Same Way As Things Are Used. In The Context Of A Civilization Of Use, Woman Can Become An Object For Man, Children A Hindrance To Parents, The Family An Institution Obstructing The Freedom Of Its Members.

Views: 6

Topic

More From Pope John Paul II

What We Talked About Will Have To Remain A Secret Between Him And Me. I Spoke To Him As A Brother Whom I Have Pardoned And Who Has My Complete Trust.

The Essential Commitment And, Above All, The Visible Grace And Source Of Supernatural Strength For The Church As The People Of God Is To Persevere And Advance Constantly In Eucharistic Life And Eucharistic Piety And To Develop Spiritually In The Climate Of The Eucharist.

Through Adoration, The Christian Mysteriously Contributes To The Radical Transformation Of The World And To The Sowing Of The Gospel. Anyone Who Prays To The Savior Draws The Whole World With Him And Raises It To God. Those Who Stand Before The Lord Are Therefore Fulfilling An Eminent Service. They Are Presenting To Christ All Those Who Do Not Know Him Or Are Far From Him: They Keep Watch In His Presence On Their Behalf.

Love Consists Of A Commitment Which Limits One's Freedom - It Is A Giving Of The Self, And To Give Oneself Means Just That: To Limit One's Freedom On Behalf Of Another.

None Of Us Is Alone In This World; Each Of Us Is A Vital Piece Of The Great Mosaic Of Humanity As A Whole.

Motherhood Implies From The Beginning A Special Openness To The New Person: And This Is Precisely The Woman's 'part'. In This Openness, In Conceiving And Giving Birth To A Child, The Woman 'discovers Herself Through A Sincere Gift Of Self'.

Faced With The Sacredness Of Life And Of The Human Person, And Before The Marvels Of The Universe, Wonder Is The Only Appropriate Attitude.

[on His 83rd Birthday] Physical Condition Or Advancing Of Age Are Not Obstacles To A Perfect Life. God Does Not Look At External Things But At The Soul.

The Battle Against The Devil, Which Is The Principal Task Of Saint Michael The Archangel, Is Still Being Fought Today, Because The Devil Is Still Alive And Active In The World.

The State Of Inequality Between Individuals And Between Nations Not Only Still Exists; It Is Increasing. It Still Happens That Side By Side With Those Who Are Wealthy And Living In Plenty There Exist Those Who Are Living In Want, Suffering Misery And Often Actually Dying Of Hunger; And Their Number Reaches Tens, Even Hundreds Of Millions.

Economic Inequality

There Is No True Peace Without Fairness, Truth, Justice And Solidarity.

Never Again War! Never Again Hatred And Intolerance!

Every Act Of Reverence, Every Genuflection That You Make Before The Blessed Sacrament Is Important Because It Is An Act Of Faith In Christ, And Act Of Love For Christ. And Every Sign Of The Cross And Gesture Of Respect Made Each Time You Pass A Church Is Also An Act Of Faith.

The Rosary Is My Favorite Prayer.

Marriage Is An Act Of Will That Signifies And Involves A Mutual Gift, Which Unites The Spouses And Binds Them To Their Eventual Souls, With Whom They Make Up A Sole Family - A Domestic Church.

What Have I Done With My Baptism And Confirmation? Is Christ Really At The Center Of My Life? Do I Have Time For Prayer In My Life? Do I Live My Life As A Vocation And Mission?

...all That Is Carried Along By The Stream's Silvery Cascade, Rhythmically Falling From The Mountain, Carried By Its Own Current-- Carried Where?

Mary Is The Sure Path To Our Meeting With Christ. Devotion To The Mother Of The Lord, When It Is Genuine, Is Always An Impetus To A Life Guided By The Spirit And Values Of The Gospel.

But Responsibility Likewise Falls On The Legislators Who Have Promoted And Approved Abortion Laws, And, To The Extent That They Have A Say In The Matter, On The Administrators Of The Health-care Centers Where Abortions Are Performed. In This Sense Abortion Goes Beyond The Responsibility Of Individuals And Beyond The Harm Done To Them, And Takes On A Distinctly Social Dimension. It Is A Most Serious Wound Inflicted On Society And Its Culture By The Very People Who Ought To Be Societys Promoters And Defenders.

Do Not Be Afraid. Open Wide The Doors To Christ.

The Ethos Of Redemption Is Realied In Self-mastery, By Means Of Temperance, That Is, Continence Of Desires.

The International Community Should Support A System Of Laws To Regularize International Relations And Maintain The Peace In The Same Manner That Law Governs National Order.

Are You Capable Of Risking Your Life For Someone? Do It For Christ.

Risking Your Life

Around The World, We See The Results Of Exploitation Which Destroys Much Without Taking Future Generations Into Account. Protecting The World's Forests; Stemming Desertification And Erosion; Avoiding The Spread Of Toxic Substances Harmful To Man, Animals And Plants; Protecting The Atmosphere; All These Can Be Accomplished Only Through Active And Wise Cooperation, Without Borders Or Political Power Plays.

Euthanasia Is A Grave Violation Of The Law Of God, Since It Is The Deliberate And Morally Unacceptable Killing Of A Human Person.

Those In Society Who Are In Charge Of Schools Must Never Forget That The Parents Have Been Appointed By God Himself As The First And Principal Educators Of Their Children And That Their Right Is Completely Inalienable.

Eucharistic Worship Is Not So Much Worship Of The Inaccessible Transcendence As Worship Of The Divine Condescension, And It Is Also The Merciful And Redeeming Transformation Of The World In The Human Heart

Condescension And

Freedom Is Not The Ability To Do Anything We Want, Whenever We Want. Rather, Freedom Is The Ability To Live Responsibly The Truth Of Our Relationship With God And With One Another.

Our Relationship

Relationship With God

As The Family Goes, So Goes The Nation And So Goes The Whole World In Which We Live.

The Church Must Breathe With Her Two Lungs!

Confidently Open Your Most Intimate Aspirations To The Love Of Christ Who Waits For You In The Eucharist. You Will Receive The Answer To All Your Worries And You Will See With Joy That The Consistency Of Your Life Which He Asks Of You Is The Door To Fulfill The Noblest Dreams Of Your Youth.

Faith And Reason Are Like Two Wings Of The Human Spirit By Which Is Soars To The Truth.

In The Context Of The "great Mystery" Of Christ And Of The Church, All Are Called To Respond - As A Bride - With The Gift Of Their Lives To The Inexpressible Gift Of The Love Of Christ, Who Alone, As The Redeemer Of The World, Is The Church's Bridegroom.

The Eucharist Is The Secret Of My Day. It Gives Strength And Meaning To All My Activities Of Service To The Church And To The Whole World. . . . Let Jesus In The Blessed Sacrament Speak To Your Hearts. It Is He Who Is The True Answer Of Life That You Seek. He Stays Here With Us: He Is God With Us. Seek Him Without Tiring, Welcome Him Without Reserve, Love Him Without Interruption: Today, Tomorrow, Forever.

In My Reading And In My Studies I Always Tried To Achieve A Harmony Between Faith, Reason, And The Heart. These Are Not Separate Areas, But Are Profoundly Interconnected, Each Giving Life To The Other.

You Are Called To Stand Up For Life! To Respect And Defend The Mystery Of Life Always And Everywhere, Including The Lives Of Unborn Babies, Giving Real Help And Encouragement To Mothers In Difficult Situations. You Are Called To Work And Pray Against Abortion.

It Is A Mistake To Apply American Democratic Procedures To The Faith And The Truth. You Cannot Take A Vote On The Truth. The Value Of Democracy Stands Or Falls With The Values Which It Embodies And Promotes.

The Cross Means There Is No Shipwreck Without Hope; There Is No Dark Without Dawn; Nor Storm Without Haven.

Do You Think That There Can Be Anything Greater Than To Bring Jesus To People And People To Jesus?

The [abortion] Excommunication Affects All Those Who Commit This Crime With Knowledge Of The Penalty Attached, And Thus Includes Those Accomplices Without Which The Crime Would Not Have Been Committed.

The Lust Of The Flesh Directs These Desires [of Personal Union], However, To Satisfaction Of The Body, Often At The Cost Of A Real And Full Communion Of Persons.

We Can Pray Perfectly When We Are Out In The Mountains Or On A Lake And We Feel At One With Nature. Nature Speaks For Us Or Rather Speaks To Us. We Pray Perfectly.

Do Not Abandon Yourselves To Despair. We Are The Easter People And Hallelujah Is Our Song.

Prayer Finds Its Source In God's Holiness And It Is At The Same Time Our Response To This Holiness.

The Internet Causes Billions Of Images To Appear On Millions Of Computer Monitors Around The Planet. From This Galaxy Of Sight And Sound Will The Face Of Christ Emerge And The Voice Of Christ Be Heard? For It Is Only When His Face Is Seen And His Voice Heard That The World Will Know The Glad Tidings Of Our Redemption. This Is The Purpose Of Evangelization. And This Is What Will Make The Internet A Genuinely Human Space, For If There Is No Room For Christ, There Is No Room For Man.

To Be Actively Pro-life Is To Contribute To The Renewal Of Society Through The Promotion Of The Common Good. It Is Impossible To Further The Common Good Without Acknowledging And Defending The Right To Life, Upon Which All The Other Inalienable Rights Of Individuals Are Founded And From Which They Develop.

We Need To Make Our Own The Ancient Pastoral Wisdom Which... Encouraged Pastors To Listen More Widely To The Entire People Of God. Significant Is Saint Benedict's Reminder To The Abbot Of A Monastery, Inviting Him To Consult Even The Youngest Members Of The Community: "by The Lord's Inspiration, It Is Often A Younger Person Who Knows What Is Best".

The Rosary Mystically Transports Us To Mary's Side As She Is Busy Watching Over The Human Growth Of Christ In The Home Of Nazareth. This Enables Her To Train Us And To Mold Us With The Same Care, Until Christ Is ''fully Formed'' In Us... Why Should We Not Once More Have Recourse To The Rosary, With The Same Faith As Those Who Have Gone Before Us?

True Living Is Not Found In One's Self Or In Things. It Is Found In Someone Else, In The One Who Created Everything That Is Good, True, And Beautiful In The World. True Living Is Found In God And You Discover God In The Person Of Jesus Christ.

Young People Are Threatened... By The Evil Use Of Advertising Techniques That Stimulate The Natural Inclination To Avoid Hard Work By Promising The Immediate Satisfaction Of Every Desire.

May Mary, Who In The Freedom Of Her 'fiat' And Her Presence At The Foot Of The Cross, Offered To The World, Jesus, The Liberator, Help Us To Find Him In The Sacrament Of The Altar

The Gospel Lives In Conversation With Culture, And If The Church Holds Back From The Culture, The Gospel Itself Falls Silent. Therefore, We Must Be Fearless In Crossing The Threshold Of The Communication And Information Revolution Now Taking Place.

Like So Many Pilgrims Before Us, We Kneel In Wonder And Adoration Before The Ineffable Mystery Which. Was Accomplished Here... In This Child - The Son Who Is Given To Us - We Find Rest For Our Souls And The True Bread That Never Fails - The Eucharistic Bread Foreshadowed Even In The Name Of This Town: Bethlehem, The House Of Bread. God Lies Hidden In The Child; Divinity Lies Hidden In The Bread Of Life

Today, The Scale And Horror Of Modern Warfare - Whether Nuclear Or Not - Makes It Totally Unacceptable As A Means Of Settling Differences Between Nations. War Should Belong To The Tragic Past, To History; It Should Find No Place On Humanity's Agenda For The Future.

God Has, In Fact, Thought Of Us From Eternity And Has Loved Us As Unique Individuals. He Has Called Every One Of Us By Name, As The Good Shepherd 'calls His Sheep By Name.'

In Christ And Through Christ Man Has Acquired Full Awareness Of His Dignity, Of The Heights To Which He Is Raised, Of The Surpassing Worth Of His Own Humanity, And Of The Meaning Of His Existence.

A Good Leader Sees Everything, Overlooks A Great Deal, And Corrects A Little.

A Nation That Destroys Its Own People Is A Nation Without Hope.

The Greatest Deception, And The Deepest Source Of Unhappiness, Is The Illusion Of Finding Life By Excluding God, Of Finding Freedom By Excluding Moral Truths And Personal Responsibility.

Faced With Today's Problems And Disappointments , Many People Will Try To Escape From Their Responsibility. Escape In Selfishness, Escape In Sexual Pleasure, Escape In Drugs, Escape In Violence, Escape In Indifference And Cynical Attitudes. I Propose To You The Option Of Love, Which Is The Opposite Of Escape.

Man Always Travels Along Precipices... His Truest Obligation Is To Keep His Balance.

Interdependence Must Be Transformed Into Solidarity Based Upon The Principle That The Goods Of Creation Are Meant For All. That Which Human Industry Produces Through The Processing Of Raw Materials With The Contribution Of Work Must Serve Equally For The Good Of All.

Since Christ Is The Only Way To The Father, In Order To Highlight His Living And Saving Presence In The Church And The World, The International Eucharistic Congress Will Take Place In Rome, On The Occasion Of The Great Jubilee. The Year 2000 Will Be Intensely Eucharistic: In The Sacrament Of The Eucharist The Savior, Who Took Flesh In Mary's Womb Twenty Centuries Ago, Continues To Offer Himself To Humanity As The Source Of Divine Life

God Is Love. We Eventually Have To Ask Ourselves The Question; Why Was Love Nailed To A Cross?

The Ultimate Test Of Your Greatness Is The Way You Treat Every Human Being.

You, Too, Be Courageous! The World Needs Convinced And Fearless Witnesses. It Is Not Enough To Discuss, It Is Necessary To Act!

Love The Family! Defend And Promote It As The Basic Cell Of Human Society; Nurture It As The Prime Sanctuary Of Life. Give Great Care To The Preparation Of Engaged Couples And Be Close To Young Married Couples, So That They Will Be For Their Children And The Whole Community An Eloquent Testimony Of God's Love.

Hands Are The Heart's Landscape.

The Way Jesus Shows You Is Not Easy. Rather, It Is Like A Path Winding Up A Mountain. Do Not Lose Heart! The Steeper The Road, The Faster It Rises Towards Ever Wider Horizons.

If He Asks Much Of You, It Is Because He Knows You Can Give Much.

Only The Chaste Man And The Chaste Woman Are Capable Of True Love.

Purity And Love

Contraception Contradicts The Full Truth Of The Sexual Act As The Proper Expression Of Conjugal Love.

By Dialogue, We Let God Be Present In Our Midst, For As We Open Ourselves To One Another, We Open Ourselves To God.

Sensitivity To The Immense Needs Of Humanity Brings With It A Spontaneous Rejection Of The Arms Race, Which Is Incompatible With The All Out Struggle Against Hunger, Sickness, Under-development And Illiteracy.

Apart From The Mercy Of God, There Is No Other Source Of Hope For Mankind.

America You Are Beautiful . . . And Blessed . . . . The Ultimate Test Of Your Greatness Is The Way You Treat Every Human Being, But Especially The Weakest And Most Defenseless. If You Want Equal Justice For All And True Freedom And Lasting Peace, Then America, Defend Life.

When Sunday Loses Its Fundamental Meaning And Becomes Subordinate To A Secular Concept Of Weekend Dominated By Such Things As Entertainment And Sport, People Stay Locked Within A Horizon So Narrow That They Can No Longer See The Heavens.

It Is Pleasant To Spend Time With Him, To Lie Close To His Breast Like The Beloved Disciple And To Feel The Infinite Love Present In His Heart....how Can We Not Feel A Renewed Need To Spend Time In Spiritual Converse, In Silent Adoration, In Heartfelt Love Before Christ Present In The Most Holy Sacrament?

Let Me Go To The House Of The Father.

Famous Last Words

You Will Reciprocally Promise Love, Loyalty And Matrimonial Honesty. We Only Want For You This Day That These Words Constitute The Principle Of Your Entire Life And That With The Help Of Divine Grace You Will Observe These Solemn Vows That Today, Before God, You Formulate.

True Freedom Is Not Advanced In The Permissive Society, Which Confuses Freedom With License To Do Anything Whatever And Which In The Name Of Freedom Proclaims A Kind Of General Amorality. It Is A Caricature Of Freedom To Claim That People Are Free To Organize Their Lives With No Reference To Moral Values, And To Say That Society Does Not Have To Ensure The Protection And Advancement Of Ethical Values. Such An Attitude Is Destructive Of Freedom And Peace.

May You Experience The Truth That He, Christ, Looks Upon You With Love.

The Most Generous Choices, Especially The Persevering, Are The Fruit Of Profound And Prolonged Union With God In Prayerful Silence.

The Most Profound And Serious Indication Of The Moral Implications Underlying The Ecological Problem Is The Lack Of Respect For Life Evident In Many Of The Patterns Of Environmental Pollution.

The Primordial Model Of The Family Is To Be Sought In God Himself, In The Trinitarian Mystery Of His Life. The Divine "we" Is The Eternal Pattern Of The Human "we", Especially Of That "we" Formed By The Man And The Woman Created In The Divine Image And Likeness... Man Is Created "from The Very Beginning" As Male And Female: The Life Of All Humanity - Whether Of Small Communities Or Of Society As A Whole - Is Marked By This Primordial Duality.

The Family, As The Fundamental And Essential Educating Community, Is The Privileged Means For Transmitting The Religious And Cultural Values Which Help The Person To Acquire His Or Her Own Identity. Founded On Love And Open To The Gift Of Life, The Family Contains In Itself The Very Future Of Society; Its Most Special Task Is To Contribute Effectively To A Future Of Peace.

Everybody That Is Just Is Called To Form Part Of The Kingdom Of Heaven-whether They Be Buddhas, Jews, Or Atheists-as Long As They Are Good.

Life Is Entrusted To Man As A Treasure Which Must Not Be Squandered, As A Talent Which Must Be Used Well.

The Challenge Is To Make The Church's Yes To Life Concrete And Effective. The Struggle Will Be Long, And It Needs Each One Of You. Place Your Intelligence, Your Talents, Your Enthusiasm, Your Compassion And Your Fortitude At The Service Of Life!

Through Mary, We Come To Her Son More Easily.

Without Wonder, Men And Women Would Lapse Into Deadening Routine And Little By Little Would Become Incapable Of A Life Which Is Genuinely Personal.

The Heart Is Our Hidden Center, Beyond The Grasp Of Our Reason And Of Others; Only The Spirit Of God Can Fathom The Human Heart And Know It Fully. The Heart Is The Place Of Decision, Deeper Than Our Psychic Drives. It Is The Place Of Truth, Where We Choose Life Or Death. It Is The Place Of Encounter.

Let Science Tell Us What And How. Let Religion Tell Us Who And Why.

The Ecological Crisis Is A Moral Issue.

Faith And Reason Are Like Two Wings On Which The Human Spirit Rises To The Contemplation Of Truth; And God Has Placed In The Human Heart A Desire To Know The Truth- In A Word, To Know Himself- So That, By Knowing And Loving God, Men And Women May Also Come To The Fullness Of Truth About Themselves.

In The Designs Of Providence, There Are No Mere Coincidences.

On My Knees, I Beg Of You To Turn Away From The Paths Of Violence And To Return To The Path Of Peace. Those Who Resort To Violence Always Claim That Only Violence Brings About Change. You Must Know There Is A Political, Peaceful Way To Justice.

It Would Appear That, On The Level Of Individual Nations And Of International Relations, The Free Market Is The Most Efficient Instrument For Utilizing Resources And Effectively Responding To Needs.

We Are Now Standing In The Face Of The Greatest Historical Confrontation Humanity Has Gone Through. I Do Not Think That Wide Circles Of The American Society Or Wide Circles Of The Christian Community Realize This Fully. We Are Now Facing The Final Confrontation Between The Church And The Anti-church, Of The Gospel Versus The Anti-gospel.

But Sometimes It Is Necessary To Do That Which Is Too Much.

Inspirational Cancer

In Suffocating The Voice Of Conscience, Passion Carries With Itself A Restlessness Of The Body And The Senses: It Is The Restlessness Of The "external Man." When The Internal Man Has Been Reduced To Silence, Then Passion, Once It Has Been Given Freedom Of Action, So To Speak, Exhibits Itself As An Insistent Tendency To Satisfy The Senses And The Body.

The Church Has A Special Duty To Safeguard And Strengthen The Sacredness Of The Eucharist. In Our Pluralistic And Often Deliberately Secularized Society, The Living Faith Of The Christian Community - A Faith Always Aware Of Its Rights Vis-a-vis Those Who Do Not Share The Faith - Ensures Respect For This Sacredness

The Church And The World Have A Great Need Of Eucharistic Worship. Jesus Waits For Us In This Sacrament Of Love. Let Us Be Generous With Our Time In Going To Meet Him In Adoration And In Contemplation That Is Full Of Faith And Ready To Make Reparation For The Great Faults And Crimes Of The World. May Our Adoration Never Cease

Beauty Is A Key To The Mystery And A Call To Transcendence. It Is An Invitation To Savor Life And To Dream Of The Future. That Is Why The Beauty Of Created Things Can Never Fully Satisfy. It Stirs That Hidden Nostalgia For God Which A Lover Of Beauty Like Saint Augustine Could Express In Incomparable Terms: 'late Have I Loved You, Beauty So Old And So New: Late Have I Loved You!'.

True Holiness Does Not Mean A Flight From The World; Rather, It Lies In The Effort To Incarnate The Gospel In Everyday Life, In The Family, At School And At Work, And In Social And Political Involvement.

I Cannot Fail To Note Once Again That The Poor Constitute The Modern Challenge, Especially For The Well-off Of Our Planet, Where Millions Of People Live In Inhuman Conditions And Many Are Literally Dying Of Hunger. It Is Not Possible To Announce God The Father To These Brothers And Sisters Without Taking On The Responsibility Of Building A More Just Society In The Name Of Christ.

From Now On It Is Only Through A Conscious Choice And Through A Deliberate Policy That Humanity Can Survive.

May The Death Penalty, An Unworthy Punishment Still Used In Some Countries, Be Abolished Throughout The World.

God Comes To Us In The Things We Know Best And Cane Verify Most Easily, The Things Of Our Everyday Life.

Much Of The Violence That Humanity Suffers In Our Times Is Rooted Inmisunderstanding As Well As In The Rejection Of The Values And Identityof Foreign Cultures. Tourism Improves Relationships Between Individualsand Peoples; When They Are Cordial, Respectful, And Based On Solidarity Theyconstitute, As It Were, An Open Door To Peace And Harmonious Coexistence

The Eucharist Is The Heart Of The Church. Where Eucharistic Life Flourishes, There The Life Of The Church Will Blossom.

To The Family Is Entrusted The Task Of Striving, First And Foremost, To Unleash The Forces Of Good.

Radical Changes In World Politics Leave America With A Heightened Responsibility To Be, For The World, An Example Of A Genuinely Free, Democratic, Just And Humane Society.

Christians, In Particular, Realize That Their Responsibility Within Creation And Their Duty Towards Nature And The Creator Are An Essential Part Of Their Faith.

Artistic Talent Is A Gift From God And Whoever Discovers It In Himself Has A Certain Obligation: To Know That He Cannot Waste This Talent, But Must Develop It.

The Dramatic Threat Of Ecological Breakdown Is Teaching Us The Extent To Which Greed And Selfishness Are Contrary To The Order Of Creation. ...a Given Culture Reveals Its Understanding Of Life Through The Choices It Makes In Production And Consumption... A Great Deal Of Educational And Cultural Work Is Urgently Needed, Including The Education Of Consumers In The Responsible Use Of Their Power Of Choice.

Beneath The Sacred Host, Christ Is Contained, The Redeemer Of The World

I Plead With You--never, Ever Give Up On Hope, Never Doubt, Never Tire, And Never Become Discouraged. Be Not Afraid.

Learning To Think Rigorously, So As To Act Rightly And To Serve Humanity Better.

Deep Within Yourself, Listen To Your Conscience Which Calls You To Be Pure...a Home Is Not Warmed By The Fire Of Pleasure Which Burns Quickly Like A Pile Of Withered Grass. Passing Encounters Are Only A Caricature Of Love; They Injure Hearts And Mock God's Plan.

People Are Made For Happiness. Rightly, Then, You Thirst For Happiness. Christ Has The Answer To This Desire Of Yours. But He Asks You To Trust Him.

For 2,000 Years, The Church Has Been The Cradle In Which Mary Places Jesus And Entrusts Him To The Adoration And Contemplation Of All Peoples. May The Humility Of The Bride Cause To Shine Forth Still More Brightly The Glory And Power Of The Eucharist, Which She Celebrates And Treasures In Her Heart. In The Sign Of The Consecrated Bread And Wine, Christ Jesus Risen And Glorified, The Light Of The Nations, Reveals The Enduring Reality Of His Incarnation. He Remains Living And Real In Our Midst In Order To Nourish The Faithful With His Body And Blood.

We Christians Joyfully Recognize The Religious Values We Have In Common With Islam. I Would Like To Repeat What I Said To Young Muslims Some Years Ago In Casablanca: 'we Believe In The Same God, The One God, The Living God, The God Who Created The World And Brings His Creatures To Their Perfection.

Gandhi Was Much More Christian Than Many People Who Say They Are Christians.

Prayer Joined To Sacrifice Constitutes The Most Powerful Force In Human History.

Every Mass Is A Memorial Of That One Sacrifice And That Passover Which Restored Life To The World. Every Mass Puts Us Into Intimate Communion With Her, The Mother, Whose Sacrifice 'becomes Present' Just As The Sacrifice Of Her Son 'becomes Present' At The Words Of Consecration..... At The Root Of The Eucharist Is The Virginal And Maternal Life Of Mary

Life With Christ Is A Wonderful Adventure.

Believers Know That The Presence Of Evil Is Always Accompanied By The Presence Of Good, By Grace... Where Evil Grows, There The Hope For Good Also Grows... In The Love That Pours Forth From The Heart Of Christ, We Find Hope For The Future Of The World. Christ Has Redeemed The World: "by His Wounds We Are Healed." (isaiah 53:5)

Truth Must Be The Foundation Stone, The Cement To Solidify The Entire Social Edifice.

Man Matures Through Work Which Inspires Him To Difficult Good.

The Worst Prison Would Be A Closed Heart.

The Distinctive Mark Of The Christian, Today More Than Ever, Must Be Love For The Poor, The Weak, The Suffering.

Faith Leads Us Beyond Ourselves. It Leads Us Directly To God.

Reason And Faith Cannot Be Separated Without Diminishing The Capacity Of Men And Women To Know Themselves, The World And God In An Appropriate Way.

The Problem Of Pornography Is That It Does Not Reveal Too Much Of A Woman But Too Little.

[st. Francis] Looked Upon Creation With The Eyes Of One Who Could Recognize In It The Marvelous Work Of The Hand Of God. His Solicitous Care, Not Only Towards Men, But Also Towards Animals Is A Faithful Echo Of The Love With Which God In The Beginning Pronounced His 'fiat' Which Brought Them Into Existence. We Too Are Called To A Similar Attitude.

Humanity Should Question Itself, Once More, About The Absurd And Always Unfair Phenomenon Of War, On Whose Stage Of Death And Pain Only Remain Standing The Negotiating Table That Could And Should Have Prevented It.

The Only Struggle Which Religions Can Justify, The Only Struggle Worthy Of Humans, Is The Moral Struggle Against Humanity's Own Disordered Passions, Against Every Kind Of Selfishness, Against Attempts To Oppress Others, Against Every Type Of Hatred And Violence.

Christ Is The Sacrament Of The Invisible God - A Sacrament That Indicates Presence. God Is With Us.

The Question Confronting The Church Today Is Not Any Longer Whether The Man In The Street Can Grasp A Religious Message, But How To Employ The Communications Media So As To Let Him Have The Full Impact Of The Gospel Message.

It Is Manifestly Unjust That A Privileged Few Should Continue To Accumulate Excess Goods, Squandering Available Resources, While Masses Of People Are Living In Conditions Of Misery At The Very Lowest Level Of Subsistence.

It Would Be A Sad Thing If The Religious And Moral Convictions Upon Which The American Experiment Was Founded Could Now Somehow Be Considered A Danger To Free Society.

The Rosary Is A Prayer Both So Humble And Simple And A Theologically Rich In Biblical Content. I Beg You To Pray It.

The Lord Has Given You A Heart Open To Great Horizons; Do Not Be Afraid To Commit Your Life Completely To The Service Of Christ And His Gospel! Listen To Him As He Says Again Today: 'the Harvest Is Abundant, But The Laborers Are Few.

Do Not Forget That True Love Sets No Conditions; It Does Not Calculate Or Complain, But Simply Loves.

Truth Can Prevail Only In Virtue Of Truth Itself.

Rediscover The Rosary In The Light Of Scripture, In Harmony With The Liturgy, And In The Context Of Your Daily Lives.

Nobody Is So Poor He Has Nothing To Give, And Nobody Is So Rich He Has Nothing To Receive.

It Is Legitimate And Necessary To Ask Oneself If This Is Not Perhaps Part Of A New Ideology Of Evil, Perhaps More Insidious And Hidden, Which Attempts To Pit Human Rights Against The Family And Against Man.

The Church Counters The Culture Of Death With The Culture Of Love.

Love Is Never Defeated, And I Could Add, The History Of Ireland Proves It.

In A World Where The Name Of God Is Sometimes Associated With Vengeance And Even A Duty Of Hatred And Violence, This Message Is Both Timely And Significant.

Truth Can Never Be Confined To Time And Culture; In History It Is Known, But It Also Reaches Beyond History.

I Do Not Hesitate To Proclaim Before You And Before The World That All Human Life-from The Moment Of Conception And Through All Subsequent Stages-is Sacred, Because Human Life Is Created In The Image And Likeness Of God.

The Unworthy Successor Of Peter Who Desires To Benefit From The Immeasurable Wealth Of Christ Feels The Great Need Of Your Assistance, Your Prayers, Your Sacrifice, And He Most Humbly Asks This Of You.

Is Not Jesus Pointing To Children Even As Models For Grownups?

Every Effort To Make Society Sensitive To The Importance Of The Family, Is A Great Service To Humanity.

Be Demanding Of The World Around You; Be Demanding First Of All With Yourselves. Be Children Of God; Take Pride In It!

On The Basis Of His Work Each Person Is Fully Entitled To Consider Himself A Part Owner Of The Great Workbench At Which He Is Working With Everyone Else. A Way Toward That Goal Could Be Found By Associating Labor With The Ownership Of Capital Joint Ownership Of The Means Of Work, Sharing By The Workers In The Management And/or Profits Of Businesses, So-called Shareholding By Labor, Etc.

In Our Time, In Particular, There Exists Another Form Of Ownership Which Is Becoming No Less Important Than Land: The Possession Of Know-how, Technology And Skill. The Wealth Of The Industrialized Nations Is Based Much More On This Kind Of Ownership Than On Natural Resources.

A Process Of Genocide Is Being Carried Out Before The Eyes Of The World.

That Is The Dignity Of America, The Reason She Exists, The Condition Of Her Survival, Yes, The Ultimate Test Of Her Greatness: To Respect Every Human Person, Especially The Weak And Most Defenseless Ones, Those As Yet Unborn.

The Saints Have Always Been The Source And Origin Of Renewal In The Most Difficult Moments In The Church's History.

Christ Remains Primary In Your Life Only When He Enjoys The First Place In Your Mind And Heart. Thus You Must Continuously Unite Yourself To Him In Prayer.... Without Prayer There Can Be No Joy, No Hope, No Peace. For Prayer Is What Keeps Us In Touch With Christ.

Man Must Reconcile Himself To His Natural Greatness.... He Must Not Forget That He Is A Person.

Certain Elements Of Today's Ecological Crisis Reveal Its Moral Character. First Among These Is The Indiscriminate Application Of Advances In Science And Technology. Many Recent Discoveries Have Brought Undeniable Benefits To Humanity. Indeed, They Demonstrate The Nobility Of The Human Vocation To Participate Responsibly In God's Creative Action In The World. Unfortunately, It Is Now Clear That The Application Of These Discoveries In The Fields Of Industry And Agriculture Have Produced Harmful Long-term Effects.

Only A Socially Just Country Has The Right To Exist.

This Worship, Given Therefore To The Trinity Of The Father And Of The Son And Of The Holy Spirit, Above All Accompanies And Permeates The Celebration Of The Eucharistic Liturgy. But It Must Fill Our Churches Also Outside The Timetable Of Masses. Indeed, Since The Eucharistic Mystery Was Instituted Out Of Love, And Makes Christ Sacramentally Present, It Is Worthy Of Thanksgiving And Worship. And This Worship Must Be Prominent In All Our Encounters With The Blessed Sacrament, Both When We Visit Our Churches And When The Sacred Species Are Taken To The Sick And Administered To Them

Solidarity Is Not A Feeling Of Vague Compassion Or Shallow Distress At The Misfortunes Of So Many People, Both Near And Far. On The Contrary, It Is A Firm And Persevering Determination To Commit Oneself To The Common Good; That Is To Say To The Good Of All And Of Each Individual, Because We Are All Really Responsible For All

The Truth Of Faith About Creation Is Radically Opposed To The Theories Of Materialistic Philosophy. These View The Cosmos As The Result Of An Evolution Of Matter Reducible To Pure Chance And Necessity.

The Most Urgent Task Is That Of The Biblical And Liturgical Formation Of The People Of God.

There Is No Place For Selfishness-and No Place For Fear! Do Not Be Afraid, Then, When Love Makes Demands. Do Not Be Afraid When Love Requires Sacrifice

You Made Us For Yourself, Lord, And Our Heart Is Restless Until It Rests In You. In This Creative Restlessness Beats And Pulsates What Is Most Deeply Human - The Search For Truth, The Insatiable Need For The Good, Hunger For Freedom, Nostalgia For The Beautiful, And The Voice Of Conscience.

There Must Be A Cooperation Of All Who Believe In God, Knowing That Authentic Religiousness - Far From Placing Individuals And Peoples In Conflict With One Another - Rather Pushes Them Together To Build A World Of Peace.

Creating The Human Race In His Own Image And Continually Keeping It In Being, God Inscribed In The Humanity Of Man And Woman The Vocation... Of Love And Communion. Love Is Therefore The Fundamental And Innate Vocation Of Every Human Being.

Art Has A Unique Capacity To Take One Or Other Facet Of The Message And Translate It Into Colors, Shapes And Sounds Which Nourish The Intuition Of Those Who Look And Listen.

None Are So Poor That They Have Nothing To Give...and None Are So Rich That They Have Nothing To Receive.

The Greater The Feeling Of Responsibility For The Person The More True Love There Is.

Farmers Everywhere Provide Bread For All Humanity, But It Is Christ Alone Who Is The Bread Of Life...even If All The Physical Hunger Of The World Were Satisfied, Even If Everyone Who Is Hungry Were Fed By His Or Her Own Labor Or By The Generosity Of Others, The Deepest Hunger Of Man Would Still Exist...therefore, I Say, Come, All Of You, To Christ. He Is The Bread Of Life. Come To Christ And You Will Never Be Hungry Again.

The Gospel Of Life Must Be Proclaimed And Human Life Defended In All Places And All Times.

Let Us Not Accept Violence As The Way Of Peace. Let Us Instead Begin By Respecting True Freedom: The Resulting Peace Will Be Able To Satisfy The World's Expectations, For It Will Be A Peace Built On Justice, A Peace Founded On The Incomparable Dignity Of The Free Human Being.

What Will You Do With Your Life? What Are Your Plans? Have You Ever Thought Of Committing Your Existence Totally To Christ? Do You Think That There Can Be Anything Greater Than To Bring Jesus To People And People To Jesus?

Deepen You Knowledge Of Jesus Which Ends Loneliness, Overcomes Sadness And Uncertainty, Gives Real Meaning To Life, Curbs Passions, Exalts Ideals, Expands Energies In Charity, Brings Light Into Decisive Choices. Let Christ Be For You The Way, The Truth, And The Life.

Prayer Gives Us Strength For Great Ideals, For Keeping Up Our Faith, Charity, Purity, Generosity; Prayer Gives Us Strength To Rise Up From Indifference And Guilt, If We Have Had The Misfortune To Give In To Temptation And Weakness. Prayer Gives Us Light By Which To See And To Judge From God's Perspective And From Eternity. That Is Why You Must Not Give Up On Praying!

Wars Generally Do Not Resolve The Problems For Which They Are Fought And Therefore, In Addition To Causing Horrendous Damage, They Prove Ultimately Futile.

In The Eucharistic Sacrifice The Church Venerates The Memory Of Mary The Ever Virgin Mother Of God And The Memory Of Saint Joseph, Because He Fed Him Whom The Faithful Must Eat As The Bread Of Life

I Have A Sweet Tooth For Song And Music. This Is My Polish Sin.

Love Is A Constant Challenge, Thrown To Us By God.

Allow The Light And The Healing Presence Of Christ To Shine Brightly Through Your Lives. In That Way, All Those Who Come In Contact With You Will Discover The Loving Kindness Of God.

Pervading Nationalism Imposes Its Dominion On Man Today In Many Different Forms And With An Aggressiveness That Spares No One. The Challenge That Is Already With Us Is The Temptation To Accept As True Freedom What In Reality Is Only A New Form Of Slavery.

Never Tire Of Firmly Speaking Out In Defense Of Life From Its Conception And Do Not Be Deterred From The Commitment To Defend The Dignity Of Every Human Person With Courageous Determination. Christ Is With You: Be Not Afraid!

Darkness Can Only Be Scattered By Light, Hatred Can Only Be Conquered By Love.

The 25th Anniversary Of The Decision ... Is A Call To People Of Good Will To Reflect. Now Is The Time For Recommitment To The Building Of A Culture Of Absolute Respect For Life.

See Everything. Ignore A Lot. Improve A Little.

The Frenetic Pace Of Modern Life Can Lead To An Obscuring Or Even A Loss Of What Is Truly Human... Perhaps More Than In Other Periods Of History, Our Time Is In Need Of That Genius Which Belongs To Women, And Which Can Ensure Sensitivity For Human Beings In Every Circumstance.

In The Past, It Was Possible To Destroy A Village, A Town, A Region, Even A Country. Now It Is The Whole Planet That Has Come Under Threat. This Fact Should Compel Everyone To Face A Basic Moral Consideration; From Now On, It Is Only Through A Conscious Choice And Then Deliberate Policy That Humanity Will Survive.

What Really Matters In Life Is That We Are Loved By Christ And That We Love Him In Return

Abortion, Euthanasia, Human Cloning, For Example, Risk Reducing The Human Person To A Mere Object: Life And Death To Order, As It Were!

To Maintain A Joyful Family Requires Much From Both The Parents And The Children. Each Member Of The Family Has To Become, In A Special Way, The Servant Of The Others.

...if Desire Is Predominant It Can Deform Love Between Man And Woman And Rob Them Both Of It.

Trending Author

Paul Thomas Anderson

Category