Is it possible that people who say that the sacrament is more trouble than it is worth, that they do not need confession, have duped themselves?

Why do we dwell within our protective shells, safe from what might harm us but certainly not fully open to what lies beyond?

If you feel a longing for God, take heart. You are alert and ready to receive the bridegroom. If you were not, his absence would not burn.

We are not meant to envy the intimacy or intensity of religious life. We are called to imitate it.

This is the theological virtue we call hope: remaining open to what will come, to whatever God determines. And what that might be, we truly do not know, no matter how certain we might think that we are.

So often what we consider to be interruptions can become invitations. We only need to ask, “What is it that you are saying, dear Lord?”