To deny the force of divine judgment, then, is to make God less than God, and to make us less than His children. For every father must discipline His children, and paternal discipline is itself a mercy, a fatherly expression of love.

The Mass-and I mean every single Mass-is heaven on earth. Literally.

At the root of all misery is unfulfilled desire.

As we grow detached from things, we come (with God's help) to master our desires, and we give the mastery over to God. Discipline and divine grace heal the intellect and the will of the effects of concupiscence. We can begin to see things clearly.

Only when we cease to rely on our own strength can we discover that God's strength is always there for us.

If we do not fill our mind with prayer, it will fill itself with anxieties, worries, temptations, resentments, and unwelcome memories.

God sometimes gives us what we want so we'll learn to trust Him to give us what we need.