"[E]ncountering others does not necessarily prove to be a way of encountering ourselves, inasmuch as our thought patterns are dominated by an unhealthy individualism... The failure to make room for the heart, as distinct from our human powers and passions viewed in isolation from one another, has resulted in a stunting of the idea of a personal centre, in which love, in the end, is the one reality that can unify all the others."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"All our actions need to be put under the 'political rule' of the heart. In this way, our aggressiveness and obsessive desires will find rest in the greater good that the heart proposes and in the power of the heart to resist evil."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"[Our Lady] was able to dialogue with the things she experienced by pondering them in her heart, treasuring their memory and viewing them in a greater perspective. The best expression of how the heart thinks is found in the two passages in Saint Luke’s Gospel that speak to us of how Mary 'treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart' (cf. Lk 2:19 and 51)."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"In the end, that Sacred Heart is the unifying principle of all reality."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"In the presence of the heart of Christ, I once more ask the Lord to have mercy on this suffering world in which he chose to dwell as one of us."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"If we find it hard to trust others because we have been hurt by lies, injuries and disappointments, the Lord whispers in our ear: 'Take heart, son! Take heart, daughter!'. He encourages us to overcome our fear and to realize that, with him at our side, we have nothing to lose."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"In a word, if love reigns in our heart, we become, in a complete and luminous way, the persons we are meant to be, for every human being is created above all else for love. In the deepest fibre of our being, we were made to love and to be loved."
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

"To see these elderly women weep, and not feel that this is something intolerable, is a sign of a world that has grown heartless... [I]n contemplating the meaning of our lives, perhaps the most decisive question we can ask is, 'Do I have a heart?'?
— Pope Francis, On the Human and Divine Love of the Heart of Jesus Christ

When Jews pray the psalms and when Catholics pray the psalms, while they may praying the same text, they are often praying for diametrically opposed outcomes, especially having to do with the exaltation of Israel/Sion. In this sense we do not “share” even the Old Testament.

When Jews pray the psalms and when Catholics pray the psalms, while they may praying the same text, they are often praying for diametrically opposed outcomes, especially having to do with the exaltation of Israel/Sion. In this sense we do not “share” even the Old Testament.

It is for this reason that Judaism unlike other non-Christian religions stands in unique opposition to the Catholic Church. It’s not just that they don’t believe in Jesus, but they received an identity from God that is itself a sign pointing toward something they reject. Christianity is not just an ideological opponent, its very existence creates for them a perpetual identity crisis at the most foundational level of their Jewishness.

"No type of cruelty can tear down the religion established by the mystery of Christ’s cross. The Church is not diminished by persecutions, but rather increased."
— Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon 82

"Jesus does not say to you, 'You cannot be my disciple unless you walk on the sea, unless you raise up someone dead for four days, unless you open the eyes of someone born blind.' No, he does not say that. What does it mean, then, to go in by the door? Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart (Mt 11:29). You must concentrate on what he became for your sake; that is what you are to imitate in him."
— St. Augustine, Exposition #1 of Psalm 90

St. Augustine speaks of lukewarm Christians who vilify faithful Christians for their fervor. We still see what he describes today when faithful Catholics are attacked for striving to believe and practice what the Church has set forth for our benefit (Exposition #1 of Psalm 91 [90]).

"Each liturgical year is like a whole catechesis of the Christian faith, as well as a kind of microcosm of the entire life of the believer, from birth and baptism to final anointing and death."
— John Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Reflections on the Sunday Mass Readings for Year B

"We sorely need Advent as an annual occasion to listen to the prophet Isaiah, to marvel at the Annunciation, the Visitation, and the birth of Saint John the Baptist, to enter more deeply into the meaning of those two great songs of faith that frame the Church’s daily prayer, the Benedictus and the Magnificat, and to join Saint Joseph and the Blessed Virgin in silent adoration of the incarnate Son of God."
— Fr. Romanus Cessario, Meditations for Advent (Foreword)

"Holy angel, whoever you may be, to whom God has entrusted me, throw back those proud tempters who, continuing their war against God, struggle with him for the man that is his conquest and try to make off with him."
— Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Meditations for Advent

"It is you, O Mary, whose fruit will crush the head of the serpent. It is you, O Jesus, who are this blessed fruit in whom our victory is assured. I give you thanks, my God, for having thus brought me hope."
— Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Meditations for Advent

"The way to pick your friends is not to ask yourself, 'Do I like So-and-so,' but to ask yourself, 'Would I like to be like So-and-so?' If not, So-and-so is no friend for you."
— Msgr. Ronald Knox

Plenary indulgence for participating in services during the Week of Christian Unity January 18-25 (Manual of Indulgences, USCCB)

"There is absolutely no manuscript evidence—and thus no actual historical evidence—to support the claim that 'originally' the Gospels had no titles" (The Case for Jesus by Dr. Brant Pitre).

"How can the man Jesus of Nazareth have such power and mastery over creation—a power that the Old Testament reserves to the LORD alone? The best explanation is that Jesus is the God of Israel come in person" (The Case for Jesus by Brant Pitre).