Ultimately faith is the only key to the universe. The final meaning of human existence, and the answers to the questions on which all our happiness depends cannot be found in any other way.
Thomas MertonOnce you have grace," I said to him, "you are free. Without it, you cannot help doing the things you know you should not do, and that you know you don't really want to do. But once you have grace, you are free. When you are baptized, there is no power in existence that can force you to commit a sin-nothing that will be able to drive you to it against your own conscience. And if you merely will it, you will be free forever, because the strength will be given you, as much as you need, and as often as you ask, and as soon as you ask, and generally long before you ask for it, too.
Thomas MertonThere is a subtle but inescapable connection between the "sacred" attitude and the acceptance of one's in most self.
Thomas MertonIt is in deep solitude and silence that I find the gentleness with which I can truly love my brother and sister.
Thomas MertonHe who hopes in God trusts God, Whom he never sees, to bring him to the possession of things that are beyond imagination.
Thomas MertonSome of us need to discover that we will not begin to live more fully until we have the courage to do and see and taste and experience much less than usual... And for a man who has let himself be drawn completely out of himself by his activity, nothing is more difficult than to sit still and rest, doing nothing at all. The very act of resting is the hardest and most courageous act he can perform.
Thomas Merton