"It’s all over." This is the debilitating message that we sense in our commitments when we face difficult and trying times and the future seems so bleak and hopeless.

A persistent feeling of guilt for past failures even after repentance keeps some people permanently oppressed in soul, always drawing back at the marred look and disfigurement they see in their own faces.

Any serious musician would treasure an ear with perfect pitch—that is, the ability to discern perfectly the accuracy of a musical note.

There is one characteristic of this generation that is wholly good:

How could you explain such faith in a country where atheism and fear were the order of the day?

The only real oneness possible [is] Christ in us...

Poor Saint Peter. The first pope's first Urbi et Orbi address (so to speak) begins inauspiciously. He had to start, not with a bold proclamation of Christ, but with assurances that the disciples weren't actually drunk.

Perhaps in our daily afflictions we miss certain remedies that are right at hand. Thomas Aquinas names two that might seem surprising in their simplicity: sleep, and talking to oneself.

"Priest of Jesus Christ, celebrate this Holy Mass as if it were your first Mass, your last Mass, your only Mass."

Be careful to never let your heart be disturbed or get involved in things that upset it, but always work to keep it calm.