Charity is the cement that unites communities to God and individuals to each other_x000D_ so that he who contributes to the union of hearts in a community_x000D_ binds it indissolubly to God.
Interpretation
Charity fosters connections among people and strengthens their relationship with God.
This quote by St. Vincent emphasizes the essential role of charity in creating strong bonds within communities and between individuals. It suggests that acts of kindness and generosity not only bring people closer but also forge a deeper connection to the divine, highlighting the spiritual importance of altruism in fostering unity and love among human beings.
In practice
This quote could be used in a community service event to inspire volunteers.
It ought to be considered a great misfortune, not only for individuals, but also for Houses and Congregations, to have everything in conformity with their wishes; to go on quietly, and to suffer nothing for the love of God. Yes, consider it certain that a person or a Congregation that does not suffer and is applauded by all the world is near a fall.
Let us love God my brothers, let us love God. But let it be with the strength of our arms and the sweat of our brow.
It is from your hands that Our Lord, in the person of the sick, seeks relief.
We ought to deal kindly with all, and to manifest those qualities which spring naturally from a heart tender and full of Christian charity; such as affability, love and humility. These virtues serve wonderfully to gain the hearts of men, and to encourage them to embrace things that are more repugnant to nature.
However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.
Fervor is a fire that makes things boil and grow hot, just as fire causes water to boil. It is, properly speaking, charity on fire, and that is what you should have because a Daughter without Charity is like a body without a soul.
Isn't it time that these most ancient sorrows of ours grew fruitful? Time that we tenderly loosed ourselves from the loved one, and, unsteadily, survived: the way the arrow, suddenly all vector, survives the string to be more than itself. For abiding is nowhere.
To draw an analogy: a man's suffering is similar to the behavior of a gas. If a certain quantity of gas is pumped into an empty chamber, it will fill the chamber completely and evenly, no matter how big the chamber. Thus suffering completely fills the human soul and conscious mind, no matter whether the suffering is great or little. Therefore the "size" of human suffering is absolutely relative.
Take notice not only of the mercies of God, but of God in the mercies. Mercies are never so savoury as when they savour a Saviour.
Behind the slogans lay an intellectual vacuum.
A free press can, of course, be good or bad, but, most certainly without freedom, the press will never be anything but bad.
The world is not thy friend, nor the world's law. - Romeo
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