Books by Theme

The worst pain of suffering lies in rejecting it.
- Interior Freedom, p. 46

What really hurts is not so much suffering itself as the fear of suffering. If welcomed trustingly and peacefully, suffering makes us grow. It matures and trains us, purifies us, teaches us to love unselfishly, makes us poor in heart, humble, gentle, and compassionate toward our neighbor. Fear of suffering, on the other hand, hardens us in self-protective, defensive attitudes, and often leads us to make irrational choices with disastrous consequences.
- Interior Freedom, p. 47

[Spiritual trials] are beneficial, because they lead us to locate our identity where it truly belongs. The experience can be highly painful when someone who loves God goes through a phase without an atom of fervor and even with a profound distaste for spiritual things. People do not lose their love for God, for their whole being remains completely oriented toward God; but they lose the feeling of love. The benefit of this trial that it deprives us of any possibility of relying on the good we can do. God’s mercy is all.
- Interior Freedom, p.126