Concern yourself not with what you tried _x000D_ and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
Pope John XxiiRead
...it is proper that the duty of helping the poor and unfortunate should especially stir Catholics, since they are members of the Mystical Body of Christ. In this we have come to know the love of God, said John the Apostle, that He laid down His life for us, and we likewise ought to lay down our life for the brethren. He who has the goods of this world and sees his brother in need and closes his heart to him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1Jn 3:16 17)
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the moral obligation to help those in need, reflecting the love of God through our actions towards others.
Pope John XXIII's quote highlights the Christian duty to care for the poor and unfortunate, illustrating the belief that true love for God manifests in our willingness to sacrifice for others. It draws on the teachings of John the Apostle, reminding us that possessing material wealth inherently comes with responsibility towards those who lack basic necessities. The act of closing one’s heart to those in need contradicts the very essence of divine love, prompting believers to reflect on their actions and the societal implications of neglecting the less fortunate.
Themes
CharityLoveSacrificeCommunityResponsibility
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon about community service, a pastor might quote this to inspire congregation members to volunteer.
More from Pope John Xxii
All quotes →Consult not your fears but your hopes _x000D_ and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.
Pope John XxiiRead
Similar quotes
If your busy with yourself now, you will be busy with yourself then. If you are busy with Allah now, you will be with Him then.
Al-GhazaliRead
War both needs and generates certain virtues; not the highest, but what may be called the preliminary virtues, as valor, veracity, the spirit of obedience, the habit of discipline. Any of these, and of others like them, when possessed by a nation, and no matter how generated, will give them a military advantage, and make them more likely to stay in the race of nations.
Walter BagehotRead
Think not thy time short in this world, since the world itself is not long. The created world is but a small parenthesis in eternity, and a short interposition, for a time, between such a state of duration as was before it and may be after it.
Thomas BrowneRead
Every rebellion against suffering is fed by the subversive power of remembered suffering.
Johann Baptist MetzRead
We call an intention good which is right in itself, but the action is good, not because it contains within it some good, but because it issues from a good intention.
Peter AbelardRead
And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarrassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God's hands and leave it with Him.
Edith SteinRead