An authentic faith--which is never comfortable or completely personal--always involves a deep desire to change the world, to transmit values, to leave this earth somehow better than we found it.
God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy.
I prefer a Church which is bruised, hurting, and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a Church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.
In the prevailing culture, priority is given to the outward, the immediate, the visible, the quick, the superficial, and the provisional. What is real gives way to appearances.
It is not 'progressive' to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life.
No one can demand that religion should be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life, without influence on societal and national life, without concern for the soundness of civil institutions, without a right to offer an opinion on events affecting society.
Reason alone is sufficient to recognize the inviolable value of each single human life....
The spiritual reading of a text must start with its literal sense. Otherwise we can easily make the text say what we think is convenient, useful for confirming us in our previous decisions, suited to our own patterns of thought.
