Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman on Heaven and Perspective

To the irreligious person heaven would be hell.

Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman

Fr. Henri J. M. Nouwen on the Freedom of the Beloved of the Lord

But you have to pray. You have to listen to the voice who calls you the beloved, because otherwise you will run around begging for affirmation, for praise, for success. And then you’re not free.

Fr. Henri J. M. Nouwen

Peggy Noonan on the Sex Abuse Scandal

There are three great groups of victims in this story. The first and most obvious, the children who were abused, who trusted, were preyed upon and bear the burden through life. The second group is the good priests and good nuns, the great leaders of the church in the day to day, who save the poor, teach the immigrant, and, literally, save lives. They have been stigmatized when they deserve to be lionized. And the third group is the Catholics in the pews—the heroic Catholics of America and now Europe, the hardy souls who in spite of what has been done to their church are still there, still making parish life possible, who hold high the flag, their faith unshaken. No one thanks those Catholics, sees their heroism, respects their patience and fidelity. The world thinks they’re stupid. They are not stupid, and with their prayers they keep the world going, and the old church too.

Peggy Noonan

John Henry Newman on the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary

I consider it impossible then, for those who believe the Church to be one vast body in heaven and on earth, in which every holy creature of God has his place, and of which prayer is the life, when once they recognize the sanctity and greatness of the… Blessed Virgin, not to perceive immediately, that her office above is one of perpetual intercession for the faithful militant

John Henry Newman