Top 54 James Martin Quotes
#1. Sometimes I think that one reason we begin praying to a saint is that the saint has already been praying for us.
James Martin
#2. When we take ourselves too seriously, we are at the risk of taking other things, including God, too lightly,
James Martin
#3. No matter how often I pray, how many retreats I make, or how hard I try, I still sin. It is something that I bump up against daily.
James Martin
#4. When John O'Malley was a Jesuit novice, an older priest told him three things to remember when living in community: First, you're not God. Second, this isn't heaven. Third, don't be an ass.
James Martin
#5. the Portuguese adage holds true: God writes straight on crooked lines.
James Martin
#6. But it is always God who takes the initiative and who surprises us with his presence, as God did with Mary.
When
James Martin
#7. Finding God often happens in the midst of a community - with a "we" as often as an "I.
James Martin
#8. Fun - a word you don't hear much in church - is also a foretaste of heaven and, for Christians, an important spiritual goal.
James Martin
#9. define Ignatian spirituality in a few words, you could say that it is: Finding God in all things Becoming a contemplative in action Looking at the world in an incarnational way Seeking freedom and detachment
James Martin
#10. When things go awry, if they are mostly an inconvenience to you or a threat to your ego, instead of getting furious, can you laugh?
Sometimes the even the best-laid plans, the most carefully planned events can turn out quite differently than planned.
James Martin
#11. Because people understand that the diocese is trying to help the members of that group feel more connected to their church, the church they belong to by virtue of their baptism.
James Martin
#12. [Joy] does not ignore pain in the world, in another's life or in one's own life. Rather, it goes deeper, seeing confidence in God - and for Christians, in Jesus Christ - as the reason for joy and a constant source of joy.
James Martin
#13. Unplanned occurrences are reminders to check your tendency to think that you're the one in control. In reality, it's someone else....
It is a vivid reminder that in ministry, no matter how hard you work, ultimately it's God's work, not yours. All this puts our work in perspective.
James Martin
#15. Whether we are rich or poor, young or old, man or woman, straight or gay: all of us are called to our own brand of personal holiness.
James Martin
#17. Everyone's true self is a unique creation of God's, and the way to sanctity is to become the unique self that God wishes us to be.
James Martin
#18. Joy is often an outgrowth not simply of following our vocation in life, but of helping those in need and of loving one another. So joy is not a selfish thing to seek, but a selfless thing to find.
James Martin
#20. The problem was that whenever I considered "earning a living," I thought mostly about the "earning" and nothing about the "living.
James Martin
#21. In our deepest longings we hear echoes of God's longing for us. And the more we can follow these deep-down desires, those that God places within us for our happiness, the more joyful we will find ourselves.
James Martin
#22. In Ignatian spirituality there is nothing that you have to put in a box and hide. Nothing has to be feared. Nothing has to be hidden away. Everything can be opened up
James Martin
#23. Religion can provide a check to my tendency to think that I am the center of the universe, that I know better than anyone about God, and that God speaks most clearly through me.
James Martin
#24. The gatekeeper at the first door asks, "Is it true?" The second gatekeeper asks, "Is it helpful?" The third gatekeeper asks, "Is it kind?" Good
James Martin
#25. In such uncommon longings, hidden in plain sight in our lives, does God call us.
James Martin
#26. Jesus is the most famous victim of capital punishment.
James Martin
#27. Joy, humor, and laughter should be part of everyone's spiritual life. They are gifts from God and help us enjoy creation.
James Martin
#28. Is it right for people to critique others for their supposed un-Christian attitudes by themselves being un-Christian?
James Martin
#29. Jesus must make decisions on his own, choices that probably seem confusing, and, in this case, offensive to those around him. This is often true of all of us when we make truly free decisions.
James Martin
#30. To some of us the humiliation of failure seems to open a wide gulf between God and us. We imagine that God turns away from us in disgust. What I discovered was that failure could be a bridge across the chasm that pride had created.
James Martin
#31. For a rational, modern mind, talk of the supernatural can be disturbing - an embarrassment.
James Martin
#32. You do know that the West Bank means the West Bank of the Jordan River, don't you?
James Martin
#33. Humor can help churches humble. It puts the community in touch with its inevitable limitations as a human organization, and its fundamental reliance to God. That leads us to God through the gateway of humility.
James Martin
#34. Instead of seeing the spiritual life as one that can exist only if it is enclosed by the walls of a monastery, Ignatius asks you to see the world as your monastery.
James Martin
#35. given the loose-fitting clothing of the time, perhaps a great deal of Zacchaeus would have been visible to the crowd below.
James Martin
#36. It is impossible to experience a person's life, or to be compassionate, if you do not listen to the person or if you do not ask questions.
James Martin
#37. But Ignatian spirituality is so capacious that even an introduction will touch upon a broad spectrum of topics: making good choices, finding meaningful work, being a good friend, living simply, wondering about suffering, deepening your prayer, striving to be a better person, and learning to love.
James Martin
#38. All of our lives are important, even the parts of our past that we have ignored, downplayed, or forgotten. If we open the door to our past, we will discover God there, accompanying us in both happy and sad moments.
James Martin
#39. Noticing helps you realize that your life is already suffused with the presence of God. Once you begin to look around and allow yourself to take a chance to believe in God, you will easily see God at work in your life.
James Martin
#40. All Christians have access to the spiritual riches found in the Scriptures, which, after all, were written amid the spiritual turmoil and social conflicts of the writers' times. We can learn from those who went before us.
James Martin
#41. image. It seemed as if they were walking near
James Martin
#42. What kind of relationship do you have if you never carve out time for the other person? One that is superficial and unsatisfying for both parties. That's why prayer, or intentional time with God, is important if you want a relationship, a friendship, with God.
James Martin
#43. twelve and thirty. Because only a single line is written about that long stretch of time, those years are called his "Hidden Life.
James Martin
#44. being spiritual and being religious are both part of being in relationship with God. Neither can be fully realized without the other.
James Martin
#45. All work has dignity. No job, when done freely, is ignoble.
James Martin
#46. So be joyful. Use your sense of humor. And laugh with the God who smiles when seeing you, rejoices over your very existence, and takes delight in you, all the days of your life.
James Martin
#47. Can you surrender to the future that God has in store for you?
James Martin
#48. As the African American theologian James Cone notes, "Far from being songs of passive resignation, the spirituals are black freedom songs which emphasize black liberation as consistent with divine revelation.
James Martin
#49. Merton wrote, "Every one of us is shadowed by an illusory person: the false self." With his typical insight, Merton identifies the false self as the person that we wish to present to the world, and the person we want the whole world to revolve around: Thus
James Martin
#50. This is the greatest challenge of faith, says Polish, "to live with a God we cannot fully understand, whose actions we explain at our own peril.
James Martin
#51. Twice a day, or at least once, make your particular examens. Be careful never to omit them. So live as to make more account of your own good conscience than you do of those of others; for he who is not good in regard to himself, how can he be good in regard to others?
James Martin
#52. Finding joy in times of pain begins with understanding that true joy is rooted in God. Thus, keeping one's relationship with God at the center of one's life is essential to discovering areas of joy, comfort and solace.
James Martin
#53. Without the Jesuits you wouldn't be enjoying your gin and tonic.
James Martin
#54. Beware of condemning any man's action. Consider your neighbor's intention, which is often honest and innocent, even though his act seems bad in outward appearance. - St. Ignatius Loyola
James Martin
Famous Authors
Popular Topics
Scroll to Top
