James Wurzler

"This dynamic of the sign is not complete, Giussani teaches us, if it does not reach its maximum outcome, that is, the acknowledgment, full of astonishment, of the existence of the Mystery that makes all things. “The summit of reason’s conquest is the perception of an unknown unreachable presence, to which all human movement is destined, because it depends upon it. It is the idea of mystery.” “The world is a sign. Reality calls us on to another reality. Reason, in order to be faithful to its nature and to the nature of such a calling, is forced to admit the existence of something else underpinning, explaining everything.” It is following the dynamic of reason and set in motion by the impression of reality that makes us capable of knowing reality."

"I dare say that the primary question we must face is not so much the problem of God -the existence, the knowledge of God - but THE PROBLEM OF THE HUMAN, of human knowledge and finding in humans themselves the mark that GOD has made, so as to be able to meet with Him." - Pope Francis -

"He imagines someone, a man, sitting on a beach one starry night, staring at the largest star, apparently the one closest to him, and thinking of the thousands and thousands of arches that would have to be built to construct this bridge, a bridge never fully defined, never completely usable. Imagine, then, this immense plain, crowded with attempts by groups large and small, or even individuals, like in Hugo’s image, each one carrying out his imagined, fantastic design. Suddenly a powerful voice is heard in the immense plain, saying: 'Stop! All of you stop!' And all the workers, engineers, architects stop working and look towards where the voice is coming from: it is a man, who continues, raising his arm: 'You are great men, your efforts are noble, but your attempt, albeit great and noble, is a sad one. This is why so many give up and stop thinking about it and become indifferent. It is great but sad, because it will never end, it will never reach its goal. You are not able to do it because you are impotent in front of this aim. There is an insurmountable disproportion between you and the farthest star in the sky, between you and God. You cannot imagine the Mystery. Now leave your hard thankless work and follow me: I will build this bridge for you, rather, I am this bridge! Because I am the way, the truth, the life!'”

"My last public appearance was in some kind of encounter with Mr. Christopher Hitchens over at the Pierre Hotel. Lovely, good food, free drinks, the only problem is that we couldn’t have any kind of encounter because we were not talking about the same thing. The question was: Does science render faith obsolete? But I, as I suspected, his view of faith…[Msgr. Albacete’s cell phone rings]…There’s my phone! Wait a minute. [He answers] Hi! Oh good. We’ll take care of that later. Thank you. [He hangs up.] It was Mr. Hitchens. He’s converted. [laughter] "

" This is a sex talk, but it’s really about the broadening of reason, exactly the same thing. But this time we want to put on affectivity—a fancy word. (One of my charisms is to vulgarize fancy words.) Everybody here knows what affection is, affectivity. I’m sure if you look up “affectivity,” you’ll find page after page of some kind of encyclopedia which will quickly remove your affectivity for the subject matter at hand. It’s sympathy"

"Faith and money, come on! I probably have little of both.

But what the heck, what I have I’ll try to relate."

"So that little perhaps, which is the initial test of whether this is working or not, because if either side here is not willing to embrace a perhaps, shows itself to be extremely important. It is a perhaps that has to be there because the point of intersection between the unknowable and the known can only unleash a call, an attraction to us to put ourselves at the service of the other, but it cannot force us; it has to be a free decision. What moves us to do it is because it’s a beautiful thing. Freedom, beauty, responsibility for the other, truth—they are inseparable. This is the proposal that animates and should animate the exciting dialogue between faith and science today."

An abridged version of John Paul II's book, Love and Responsibility

This is an excellent book on marriage which can be read online.  

"...But there is one fundamental thing:  the destiny from which I was born and to which I am oriented, my principle and my end, has become one among us.  He sat at the desks in school; he united himself together with people of his own town and the city of Jerusalem.  This destiny has a name in history:  his name is Jesus Christ.  Vocation, therefore, is embracing every circumstance to obey, adhere, and realize what Christ wants from you... It is only with Christ that, following every circumstance moment by moment - which are characterized by error, weakness or strength, and dedication - we build and find ourselves."