Prayer is the human response to the perpetual outpouring of love by which God lays siege to every soul.

When we genuinely believe that inner transformation is God's work and not ours, we can put to rest our passion to set others straight.

The needed change within us is God's work, not ours. The demand is for an inside job, and only God can work from the inside. We cannot attain or earn this righteousness of the kingdom of God: it is a grace that is given.

It is in the everyday and the commonplace that we learn patience, acceptance, and contentment.

I think of Pope Gregory the Great. He wanted the cloister. He wanted to pray and study, and yet he was thrust into this administrative job, and he submitted to that. And in that submission, he became a great leader. You could say that the only person who is safe to lead is the person who is free to submit.

We who have turned our lives over to Christ need to know how very much he longs to eat with us, to commune with us. He desires a perpetual Eucharistic feast in the inner sanctuary of the heart.

Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love.