The main problem in developing a deep prayer life is by far the failure to live the radicality of the Gospel, hour by hour and day by day.

Mediocre people often have a tinge of religion about them, but it is only a tinge. They take their religion as it comes. They may pray and worship more or less regularly, and they usually stay clear of publicly disgraceful crimes, but they are lukewarm, colorless. Seldom or never do they read a serious book about prayer or study to learn more about God and His plans, to discover how to be humble and chaste and patient. They are always too busy for the one thing necessary.

The main problem in developing a deep prayer life is by far the failure to live the radicality of the Gospel, hour by hour and day by day.

Creation is a book proclaiming the Creator. It is a book of beauty that our intellect reads, but through the passageways of our five senses.

The humble listen to their brothers and sisters because they assume they have something to learn. They are open to correction, and they become wiser through it.

Boredom comes not from reality but from people who are only half alive.

The acute experience of great beauty readily evokes a nameless yearning for something more than earth can offer. Elegant splendor reawakens our spirit's aching need for the infinite, a hunger for more than matter can provide.