We have to be humble rather than making mountains out of molehills… We need to be people who have perspective, seeing things as the good Lord has made them, without exaggeration. We have to be able to see ourselves, others, and God rightly. (Charity)
Behold the deeper roots of a lack of charity! They are: selfishness, pride, and a lack of supernatural spirit. If we want to have environments in which there is true charity, we must establish them through the elimination of selfishness, pride and the lack of supernatural spirit. Until we conquer the roots of a lack of charity, we delude ourselves if we think that we have won the battle for charity. (Charity)
Grace and love, by their nature as gifts from God, are not limited but tend to expand further. Expansion or amplitude of love and grace are infinite in God; on our part, as much as possible, the Lord wants us to be holy, burning with love, striving limitlessly toward the infinite that is Himself. (Charity)
We have to be attentive to our immediate and spontaneous reactions. When something happens, immediately we have an interior reaction that, without strong self-control, can become an exterior reaction. When we don’t like a person, we feel it interiorly and express it exteriorly. We must overcome ourselves so that, even for a moment, we do not manifest exteriorly our interior reaction. As we speak of charity in acting, in speaking, in judging, we must also speak sensitively of all these things. (Charity)
We have to understand our weaknesses and our sensitivities. When we feel reactive, we have to be prepared to overcome ourselves. On one hand we have to know ourselves, and on the other hand we have to master ourselves. (Charity)
Charity is benevolent; it does ‘good’ out of love for our Lord and not for self-interest. It does not enjoy injustice, but rejoices when it sees truth that triumphs and goodness that is elevated. It rejoices in the good of others. Charity accommodates all, knows how to accept all with tranquility; it hopes all and bears all. Charity does not become discouraged; it knows how to wait, it knows how to hope; it does not stop to look at obstacles nor spend time creating obstacles. Charity hopes, trusts, overcomes difficulties, and bears all. (Charity)
We have to embody God’s love to the maximum in our own lives. God lives in me, so I am a God-bearer. During the day let us remember that we are God-bearers. Let’s try to animate every action with this thought: “I have God in my soul. God is present in me. This action that I am performing I am not doing by myself, but God does it through me. God sees me. He continuously moves me. God needs my love; He wants my love.” During the day let us ask ourselves: “What does the Lord want from me?” During an action—not only at the beginning of the action or at the end, but also during the action—let us think of God and of His presence. This is how we live the union of our intelligence with God. (Charity)
The law is essentially a law of love in the Mystical Body. This leads to some basic consequences because our love has to be measured by the greatness of the Mystical Body, and by its universality. My love must be as ample as the Mystical Body’s love, as great and far-reaching as the Mystical Body’s. Since the potential amplitude of the Mystical Body embraces all people, I have to love all people. I have to look at them as my brothers and sisters, even those whom I do not know. Perhaps I never will know them. I have to feel united in love for Christ Jesus with the members of the Mystical Body, and I have to look at the issues of the whole Mystical Body, of the whole Church, as if they were my own issues (because they are.) My love for all my brothers and sisters has to go beyond my own personal needs and my selfishness. (Charity)
The Church is the Body of Jesus; she is Jesus living His life down through the centuries; she is life that is lived through the members, and these members are incorporated into Christ through grace, through the Eucharist and, generally speaking, through the sacraments. As St. Thomas has taught us, those of us who were imprinted with the sacramental character at Baptism participate in Christ’s priesthood; therefore we participate in our redemption because the priesthood functions for redemption. Thus we are sharers—co-sharers—in our redemption and in the redemption of humanity. (Charity)
