“Many conversions, many decisions to give oneself to the service of God have been preceded by an encounter with Mary. Our Lady has encouraged us to look for God, to desire to change, to lead a new life. And so the ‘Do whatever he tells you’ has turned into real self-giving, into a Christian vocation, which from then on enlightens all our personal life.”
Here's the full text of all the quotes for deeper reflection:
- “We are at the beginning of Lent: a time of penance, purification and conversion. It is not an easy program, but then Christianity is not an easy way of life. It is not enough just to be in the Church, letting the years roll by. In our life, in the life of Christians, our first conversion — that unique moment which each of us remembers, when we clearly understood everything the Lord was asking of us — is certainly very significant. But the later conversions are even more important, and they are increasingly demanding” (The Conversion of the Children of God, no. 57).
- “Conversion is the task of a moment; sanctification is the work of a lifetime. The divine seed of charity, which God has sown in our souls, wants to grow, to express itself in action, to yield results which continually coincide with what God wants. Therefore, we must be ready to begin again, to find again — in new situations — the light and the stimulus of our first conversion” (The Conversion of the Children of God, no. 58).
- “I advise you to try sometime to return… to the beginning of your ‘first conversion,’ which, if it is not becoming like children, is very much like it. In the spiritual life we have to let ourselves be led with complete trust, single-mindedly and without fear. We have to speak with absolute clarity about what we have in our mind and in our soul” (Furrow, no. 145).
- “Coming closer to God means being ready to be converted anew, to change direction again, to listen attentively to his inspirations — those holy desires he places in our souls — and to put them into practice” (The Forge, no. 32).
- “To be converted you must climb via humility, along the path of self-abasement” (Furrow, no. 278).
- “Many conversions, many decisions to give oneself to the service of God have been preceded by an encounter with Mary. Our Lady has encouraged us to look for God, to desire to change, to lead a new life. And so the ‘Do whatever he tells you’ has turned into real self-giving, into a christian vocation, which from then on enlightens all our personal life” (Christ is Passing By, no. 149).
- “Nowadays it is not enough for men and women to be good. Moreover, it is not good enough to be satisfied with being nearly… good. It is necessary to be ‘revolutionary.’ Faced by hedonism, faced by the pagan and materialistic wares that we are being offered, Christ wants objectors! — rebels of Love!” (Furrow, no. 128).
- “We do not belong to ourselves. Jesus Christ has bought us with his Passion and with his Death. We are his life. From now on there is only one way of living on earth: to die with Christ so as to rise again with Him, to the point that we can say with the Apostle: ‘It is not I that live, it is Christ that lives in me’ (Gal 2:20)” (Way of the Cross, 14th Station).
- “So much do I love Christ on the Cross that every crucifix is like a loving reproach from my God: '… I suffering, and you… a coward. I loving you, and you forgetting me. I begging you, and you… denying me. I, here, with arms wide open as an Eternal Priest, suffering all that can be suffered for love of you… and you complain at the slightest misunderstanding, over the tiniest humiliation…'” (Way of the Cross, 11th Station).
- “Do you want to accompany Jesus closely, very closely?… Open the Holy Gospel and read the Passion of Our Lord. But don't just read it: live it. There is a big difference. To read is to recall something that happened in the past; to live is to find oneself present at an event that is happening here and now, to be someone taking part in those scenes” (Way of the Cross, 9th Station).
- “Then, allow your heart to open wide; let it place itself next to Our Lord. And when you notice it trying to slip away —when you see that you are a coward, like the others— ask forgiveness for your cowardice and mine” (Way of the Cross, 9th Station).
- “You are discouraged, why? Is it your sins and miseries? Is it your defeats, at times coming one after the other? A really big fall, which you didn't expect? Be simple. Open your heart. Look: as yet nothing has been lost. You can still go forward, and with more love, with more affection, with more strength. Take refuge in your divine sonship: God is your most loving Father. In this lies your security, a haven where you can drop anchor no matter what is happening on the surface of the sea of life. And you will find joy, strength, optimism: victory!” (Way of the Cross, 7th Station)
- “You said to me: Father, I am having a very rough time. In answer I whispered in your ear: Take upon your shoulders a small part of that cross, just a tiny part. And if you can't manage that then… leave it entirely on the strong shoulders of Christ. And from this moment on, repeat with me: My Lord and my God: into your hands I abandon the past and the present and the future, what is small and what is great, what amounts to a little and what amounts to a lot, things temporal and things eternal. Then, don't worry any more” (Way of the Cross, 7th Station).
