“One day an aged beggar, covered with ulcers and almost naked, stretched out his hand, and Martin, seeing the Divine in him, took him to his own bed, ignoring that he was not clean. One of the brothers, considering he had gone too far in his charity, reproved him.
And Martin replied: ‘Compassion, my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness. Consider that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed sheets, but with even a torrent of tears I could never wash the stain from my soul that harshness toward the unfortunate would bring.’ ”
Arthur M. Granger, Vie du Bienheureux Martin de Porrès, 1941
"This world is a ship, not your home."
Thérèse de Lisieux
"Prayer is not calling God in to bless our activities. Rather, prayer takes us into God’s presence, shows us His will, and prepares us to obey Him. God will use your prayer times to soften your heart and change your focus. As you pray for others, the Holy Spirit will work in your heart so that you have the same compassion for them that God does.
If you do not love people as you should, pray for them. If you are not as active in God’s service as you know He wants you to be, begin praying. You cannot be intimately exposed to God’s heart and remain complacent. The time spent with God will change you."
Henry Blackaby, Prayer Changes You
"Some people come into your life as blessings. Some come into your life as lessons."
Teresa of Calcutta
"When we see how God gives Himself to us, all that is common becomes wonderful; and it is because of this that nothing seems to be common, because this way it is, in itself, extraordinary. Consequently it is unnecessary to make life full of strange and unsuitable marvels and miracles. It is, in itself, a miracle, a revelation, a constant joy even with the prevalence of annoyances and shortcomings."
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, L'Abandon a la Providence divine
"Peter understood that neither Nero, nor all his legions, could overcome the living truth — that they could not overwhelm it with tears or blood, and that now its victory was beginning. He understood with equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road. That city of pride, of crime, of wickedness, and of a lust for power, was beginning to be His city."
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis, 1898
Although I mentioned it to a few friends I never seem to have noted here that the young man was married last month in Hangzhou, China, the beautiful jewel on the Westlake. The changes that have occurred in China since I was last there for business in 1998 are profound.
There is a wonderful little Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception there, which was founded by missionaries in 1661. My joy is almost complete, in many ways. I wish the queen had been here to see this. And like most parents, I look forward to seeing our grandchildren.
It's the little things that gives us hope, and remind us of who we are, and thereby make life worth living.
And so we had the wash and rinse that I had expected.
Stocks gave up most if not all of the gains they enjoyed yesterday.
Gold wobbled a little, but silver was smacked lower by the wiseguys in sympathy with equities.
VIX rose sharply.
Is the market really this flighty, if not bipolar? Or have we just handed the reins of our country over to the plundering class, and their servants?
Non-Farm Payrolls report tomorrow.
"Isn't it a riddle and awe-inspiring that things can be so beautiful, despite the horror? I've seen something wondrous peering through my joy in the beautiful, a sense of its creator. Only people can be truly ugly, because they have free will to separate themselves from this song of praise. It often seems they will drown out this hymn with cannon thunder, curses, and blasphemy. But I have realized they will not succeed. And so I want to throw myself on the side of the victor.”Have a pleasant evening.
Sophie Scholl, Munich, 1941
