The church has magnificent buildings, superb equipment, trained leadership, excellent teaching materials, organizational ability, and yet lacks that one thing that could take all these tools and make them the channel of God's will. In spite of its ever-increasing membership, the church lacks the spirit of God's growing love and understanding that can transform it from an efficient organization into a loving, dynamic fellowship where men and women become vitally alive with faith, love, and hope.

Commemoration of Martyrs of Japan, 1597 The Christian must be consumed with the infinite beauty of holiness and the infinite damnability of sin.

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century In questions of this sort there are two things to be observed. First, that the truth of the Scriptures be inviolably maintained. Secondly, since Scripture doth admit of diverse interpretations, that no one cling to any particular exposition with such pertinacity that, if what he supposed to be the teaching of Scripture should afterward turn out to be clearly false, he should nevertheless still presume to put it forward, lest thereby the sacred Scriptures should be exposed to the derision of unbelievers and the way of salvation should be closed to them.

Feast of Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1274 The end of all my labors has come. All that I have written appears to me as much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.

Feast of Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers, 1221 Some there are who presume so far on their wits that they think themselves capable of measuring the whole nature of things by their intellect, in that they esteem all things true which they see, and false which they see not. Accordingly, in order that man's mind might be freed from this presumption, and seek the truth humbly, it was necessary that certain things far surpassing his intellect should be proposed to man by God.

Feast of Thomas Aquinas, Priest, Teacher of the Faith, 1274 It is clear that he does not pray, who, far from uplifting himself to God, requires that God shall lower Himself to him, and who resorts to prayer not to stir the man in us to will what God wills, but only to persuade God to will what the man in us wills.