REFLECTIONS

Allow me to anticipate the argument that the priesthood cannot be open to people the Eastern religions call “imbalanced” and our church calls “disordered.” Find me a priest who doesn’t have some sort of disorder, whether it’s an eating disorder, or an attentionseeking disorder, or a disorder of social ineptness, a hearing disorder, or even a learning disorder. Our priests are human, imperfect, faulty and sometimes broken, just like the rest of us. I think as a church we do ourselves and our dear priests a disservice by pretending that one particular disorder is not represented among them — and we do our gay brothers and sisters a disservice, too, by rendering them only partly visible.

THE ANCHORESS

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavour to be what you desire to appear.

SOCRATES

The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.

FLANNERY O'CONNOR

If I accept you as you are, I will make you worse; however if I treat you as though you are what you are capable of becoming, I help you become that.

JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE

I believe in God – not in a Catholic God; there is no Catholic God. There is God, and I believe in Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Jesus is my teacher and my pastor, but God, the Father, Abba, is the light and the Creator. This is my Being.

POPE FRANCIS

There is no limit to what can be accomplished when no one cares who gets credit.

JOHN WOODEN

My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.

HENRY FORD

To be blind is bad, but worse is to have eyes and not see.

HELEN KELLER

Deja pew: the feeling you've sat in this spot in church before.

Fear grows out of the things we think; it lives in our minds. Compassion grows out of the things we are, and lives in our hearts.

BARBARA GARRISON

Morning is when I am awake and there is a dawn in me.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.

POPE FRANCIS

Speak your mind, even if your voice shakes.

MAGGIE KUHN

A woman went to the doctor and said, "When I looked in the mirror this morning, I saw my hair was frizzy, my skin wrinkly, my eyes bloodshot – what is wrong with me?" The doctor replied, "Well, the good news is that your eyesight is fine."

Everything looks impossible for the people who never try anything.

JEAN-LOUIS ETIENNE

My brother is a terrible musician. The other day he asked my sister if she had heard his last recital. She replied, "I certainly hope so.”

A good Catholic meddles in politics, offering the best of himself, so that those who govern can govern. But what is the best that we can offer to those who govern? Prayer!

POPE FRANCIS

The only edition of the Gospels most people are likely to see – is you.

THE CHRISTOPHERS

The parts of the New Testament which I don’t understand don’t worry me too much; it’s the parts I do understand which worry me.

MARK TWAIN