The mystery of poverty is that by sharing in it, making ourselves poor in giving to others, we increase our knowledge of and belief in love.
For me Christ was not to be bought for thirty pieces of silver but with my heart's blood. We buy not cheap in this market.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Dorothy Day emphasizes that true commitment and faith cannot be superficially exchanged but require genuine sacrifice and deep devotion.
In this quote, Dorothy Day reflects on the significance of commitment and faith in one's beliefs, comparing them to the biblical story of Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Christ for thirty pieces of silver. She suggests that for her, the relationship with Christ is invaluable and cannot be purchased with mere money; instead, it requires a deep, heartfelt dedication and willingness to sacrifice, indicating that true value lies in sincere devotion rather than superficial transactions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a sermon to highlight the depth of one's faith and commitment to spiritual beliefs.
More from Dorothy Day
All quotes βAs we come to know the seriousness of the situation, the war, the racism, the poverty in our world, we come to realize that things will not be changed simply by words or demonstrations. Rather, it's a question of living one's life in a drastically different way.
I do not know how to love God except by loving the poor. I do not know how to serve God except by serving the poor.... Here, within this great city of nine million people, we must, in this neighborhood, on this street, in this parish, regain a sense of community which is the basis for peace in the world.
The biggest mistake sometimes is to play things very safe in this life and end up being moral failures.
We're living in an age of genocide. ...And we do believe that there is not only the genocide of war, and the genocide that took place with the extermination of the Jews, but the whole program....of birth control and abortion is another form of genocide.... [T]hey claim the poor are bringing forth tremendous numbers of children and so the solution is to kill them off.
Men are beginning to realize that they are not individuals but persons in society, that man alone is weak and adrift, that he must seek strength in common action.
Similar quotes
Science is unflinchingly deterministic, and it has begun to force its determinism into morals. On some shining tomorrow a psychoanalyst may be put into the box to prove that perjury is simply a compulsion neurosis, like beating time with the foot at a concert or counting the lampposts along the highway.
It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.
A dark cloud is no sign that the sun has lost his light; and dark black convictions are no arguments that God has laid aside His mercy.
If your ego starts out, "I am important, I am big, I am special," you're in for some disappointments when you look around at what we've discovered about the universe. No, you're not big. No, you're not. You're small in time and in space. And you have this frail vessel called the human body that's limited on Earth.
...majority Patriotism is the customary Patriotism.
Crude thoughts and fierce forces are my state. I do not know who I am. Nor what I was. I cannot hear a sound. Pain is near that will be like no pain felt before.