Spiritual Quote of the Day (Fr. Charles O’Donnell, on St. Mary and Her Child)

“Deftly she handled the distaff,
And happily whirred her wheel
As the Child came down from the doorway
And ran at her side to kneel.
 
“ ‘Mother,' He said as He watched her
There while she sat and spun,
'Some things are more fair than I dreamed them
The day that I made the sun.
 
“'And you are My heart of all beauty,
My star of all seas, of all lands—'
'Hush, Child,' whispered Mary His Mother,
Her tears falling down on His hands.”—American poet, army chaplain, and educator Fr. Charles O’Donnell (1884-1934), “The Spinner,” originally published in A Rime of the Rood and Other Poems (1928), republished in The Poems of Charles O'Donnell, CSC, edited by George Klawitter, CSC (2010)
 
The image accompanying this post, Mary and Elizabeth Spinning, was painted by a master of the Nuremberg Marienaltars (ca. 1400).

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Pope Francis, on Jesus, ‘A Specialist at Turning Our Deaths Into Life’)

“Jesus is a specialist at turning our deaths into life, our mourning into dancing (cf. Ps 30:11). With him, we too can experience a Pasch, that is, a Passover– from self-centredness to communion, from desolation to consolation, from fear to confidence. Let us not keep our faces bowed to the ground in fear, but raise our eyes to the risen Jesus. His gaze fills us with hope, for it tells us that we are loved unfailingly, and that however much we make a mess of things, his love remains unchanged. This is the one, non-negotiable certitude we have in life: His love does not change. Let us ask ourselves: In my life, where am I looking? Am I gazing at graveyards, or looking for the Living One?” —Pope Francis, “Easter Vigil in the Holy Night of Easter: Homily of His Holiness Pope Francis,” Apr. 20, 2019

The depiction of the Resurrection of Jesus in the accompanying image is by the German painter and graphic artist Bernard Plockhorst (1825-1907).

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Teresa Brayton, on What Jesus May Have Seen and Heard in Bethlehem)

“Did You hear the cries of the groping blind,
   The woe of the leper’s prayer,
The surging sorrow of all mankind,
   As You lay by Your Mother there?
Beyond the shepherds, low bending down,
   The long, long road did You see
That led from peaceful Bethlehem town
   To the summit of Calvary?”— Irish nationalist, writer and poet Teresa Brayton (1868-1943), “A Christmas Song,” in Joyce Kilmer’s Anthology of Catholic Poets, edited by Shaemas O’Sheel (1939)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Rev. M. Craig Barnes, on How ‘Jesus Did Not Like Tombs Very Much’)

“Jesus did not like tombs very much; he did not spend much time in his own. We are always on a journey toward freedom. We don’t have to be enslaved by guilt, hurt or the fantasy about the next thing. Thanks be to God.” —Rev. M. Craig Barnes, president of Princeton Theological Seminary, quoted in Mary Lee Talbot, “Morning Worship: ‘Transformation Comes From Taking the Long, Hard Road,’” The Chautauquan Daily, August 4, 2014

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Blaise Pascal, on Why Jesus Suffered and Died)

“Let us, then, consider death in Jesus Christ, and not without Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ it is horrible, detestable, the horror of nature. In Jesus Christ it is altogether different; it is benignant, holy, the joy of the faithful. Everything is sweet in Jesus Christ, even to death: Jesus Christ suffered and died to sanctify death and suffering; he has been all that was great, and all that was abject, in order to sanctify in himself all things except sin, and to be the model of every condition.” —French philosopher and logician Blaise Pascal (1623–1662), letter of Oct. 17, 1651, to “Madame Perier and Her Husband, on the Death of M. Pascal, Pere,” in The Thoughts, Letters, and Opuscules of Blaise Pascal, translated by O.W. Wight (1869)

(The image accompanying this post is Crucifixion, by German 16th-century painter Peter Gertner.)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (St. John XXIII, on Jesus and ‘The Law of Love’)

“God has engraved his law on men’s hearts; he has revealed it through Moses. It is a strict law, and sometimes it may seem a hard one. But when Jesus, the Redeemer of the world, came down to join us he explained it and made it gentler, giving it a new, fascinating and appealing character. It is the law of love, of forgiveness, of wise judgment; it is the law of forbearance, according to the various circumstances, always provided that there be no question of violating the Lord’s commandment. Therefore the true Christian, serving one master only, is on the right road and has nothing to fear.”—St. John XXIII (1881-1963), Days of Devotion: Daily Meditations From the Good Shepherd, translated by Dorothy White, edited by John P. Donnelly (1967, reprinted 1996)

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Pope Francis, on Why Jesus Was ‘Born an Outcast’)

“The Son of God was born an outcast, in order to tell us that every outcast is a child of God.”—Pope Francis, Christmas Eve Mass 2020, quoted in Christopher Lamb, “Every Outcast is a Child of God, Says Pope,” The Tablet, Dec. 24, 2020

Spiritual Quote of the Day (Robert Murray McCheyne, on Jesus and the World, ‘One Vast Howling Wilderness’)

“You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm.”— Scottish clergyman Robert Murray McCheyne (1813-1843), letter of Mar. 9, 1843, quoted in Rev. Andrew A. Bonar, Memoir and Remains of the Rev. Robert McCheyne (1844)

(The image accompanying this post was taken by Lorie Shaull on May 26, 2020, showing protesters along and around 38th Street in Minneapolis after the death of George Floyd at the hands of arresting officers the prior day. A memorial was made outside Cup Foods, where Floyd died. If America has felt like “one vast howling wilderness” since Floyd’s death, I hope we will remember Jesus’ message of nonviolent witness as the true path to change in our world.)

Quote of the Day (Pope Francis, on Avoiding ‘Messages of Hatred or Terror’)

“Don’t be taken in by the messages of hatred or terror all around us. Instead, make new friends. Give of your time and always show concern for those who ask your help. Be brave and go against the tide; be friends of Jesus, who is the Prince of Peace.” —Pope Francis, “Message for the Jubilee of Mercy, for Young Boys and Girls,” Jan. 6, 2016

Quote of the Day (Lucien Deiss, on the Resurrection)

“Your resurrection destroys the power of death and changes tears of agony into cries of joy. Blessed are you!” — French pastor, liturgist, author, lecturer, Scripture scholar and composer Lucien Deiss (1921-1997), Come, Lord Jesus (1981)

Quote of the Day (Karl Barth, on God and Man as ‘True Companions’)

“In Jesus Christ, God and man...are already at peace. Not as enemies but as true companions. In Him salvation is already present and at work.” —Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth (1886-1968), Jan. 20, 1963 letter, in Karl Barth: Letters, 1961-1968, translated by Geoffrey W. Bromiley (1987)

Quote of the Day (St. Paul to the Romans, on Endurance and Encouragement From God)

“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” —Romans 15-1-6 (New International Version)

The image of St. Paul accompanying this post was painted by the Spanish Renaissance painter El Greco (1541-1614).