"The proud must content themselves with mediocrity. Excellence belongs to the humble" (174).
"Our modern world is spinning out of control, and one of the chief contributors to the chaos and confusion of our modern age is noise. Our lives are filled with noise. We are afraid of silence" (182).
"Wouldn't it be nice if our souls growled when they were hungry, like our stomachs do?" (184)
A longer passage:
"Life is vocational. Each of us is created for a reason. With the shortage of vocations to the priesthood and religious life, we have forgotten that marriage and the single life are also worthy vocations. And because of our inability to reconcile sexual intimacy and holiness, the nobility of marriage as a vocation is often undermined. All this confusion leaves many people thinking that some people have a vocation and others don't. Everyone has a vocation, and unveiling that vocation is critically important to our experience of life. Life is vocational.
I guess it all comes down to deciding how long you want to be happy. If you want moments of happiness, I suspect pleasure and possessions can satisfy. If you want to be happy for an hour, take a nap. If you want to be happy for a whole day, go shopping. If you want to be happy for [a] weekend, go fishing. If you want to be happy for a month, take a trip to Australia. If you want to be happy for a whole year, inherit a fortune. But if you want to be happy for a lifetime, find a way to make a difference in other people's lives" (187).
Looking forward to reading the next chapter (14) on the Mass this week... Which is my last full week at home of the summer. Weird to think about, but I'm ready to get back. : )
No comments:
Post a Comment