Francis E. George > Quotes

“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history”
― Cardinal Francis George

“The danger of modern spirituality, even as exemplified in St. Therese of Lisieux, is that simplicity can slide into sentimentality, a subjective caricature of objective love. Without a sense of history and of God’s self-revelation in time as well as in one’s heart, without the social discipline of the liturgical year and of approved devotions, modern religion degenerates.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“The church, if she is faithful to her Lord, will not only proclaim who he is but will act to become herself the womb, the matrix, in which a new world can gestate and be born.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“Analogies can easily be multiplied, if one wants to push a thesis; but the point is that the greatest threat to world peace and international justice is the nation state gone bad, claiming an absolute power, deciding questions and making ‘laws’ beyond its competence. Few there are, however, who would venture to ask if there might be a better way for humanity to organize itself for the sake of the common good. Few, that is, beyond a prophetic voice like that of Dorothy Day, speaking acerbically about ‘Holy Mother the State,’ or the ecclesiastical voice that calls the world, from generation to generation, to live at peace in the kingdom of God.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“Both the Church and the Eucharist have their source and receive their present vitality from the events celebrated in Holy Week: the Last Supper of Jesus with his apostles, his atoning passion and death on Good Friday and his bodily resurrection on Easter Sunday”
― Francis Cardinal George

“The Second Vatican Council, much influenced by Newman’s thinking, spoke of the assent of the mind and will to Catholic doctrine, even if all dimensions of a doctrine are not understood. Without such assent, we try to meet God on our terms rather than His. This is futile at best and spiritually destructive at worst.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“It is everyone’s responsibility to help others overcome hunger, ill health or loneliness.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“It is always amazing to me how anyone who holds the faith can ask what we “get out” of the Mass. What we “get out” is the risen Christ. What he does is explode our tiny ways and small minds to bring them into a dimension of existence that is sometimes resisted because it can be terrifying. The risen Christ is not a “nice man”; he is certainly not the sentimentalized Jesus who never makes demands that bring us beyond our very selves and turn the world inside out.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“Miracles are eternity breaking into time and are evidence of God’s will for our salvation.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“The purgation of all the effects of sin and our growth in personal holiness, may continue after death until we are ready to live with God forever. A justified soul in purgatory is something like a child playing in the back yard. Her mother calls her to say that she should wash her face and hands because her grandmother is at the front door. The child knows her grandmother loves her and will embrace her; but the child still has to wash up, has to be prepared for that embrace.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“Many blacks, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans are socialized and educated in institutions which devalue the presence of people of color and celebrate only the contributions of whites....Thus, people of color can come to see themselves...primarily through the eyes of that dominant culture....Seeing few men and women from their own culture or class in leadership roles, they begin to apply to themselves the negative stereotypes about their group that the dominant culture chooses to believe.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“Racism, whether personal, social, institutional or structural, contradicts the purpose of the incarnation of the Word of God in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Racism contradicts God’s will for our salvation.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“The church has no corner, no monopoly on work for the poor and for the elimination of economic and political injustice. The work of charity is ecumenical and universal both in its scope and its workers.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“Almsgiving, fasting and prayer are all ways to empty ourselves, to create a space in our lives where God can do what he wants with us. When we give alms, we not only help the poor; we also create an empty space in our pocketbooks. With less money, we are less free to follow our own designs and more open to search for God’s will for us. When we fast, we create a space in our bodies, a void in our stomachs. Emptying ourselves physically leaves us more attuned to God Spiritually. When we pray, we empty our minds and hearts and give God time and space to fill us with his grace.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“The priesthood will be meaningful only when God Himself and a life lived for Him, a holy life, are seen as meaningful and valuable. Personal intimacy with God must be ours if God is to act through us in a meaningful way. Otherwise, we are not living witnesses, but living lies.”
― Francis George

“A healthy culture is open enough to respect other cultures without being destroyed by them.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10: 25-37), Jesus taught us that every stranger in need is our neighbor. Refugees as well as immigrants command the Church’s care.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“Pentecost is a feast of conversion. Our minds are converted to Christ in faith; and our hearts are
converted to his mission in charity. Faith and charity are given with the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Everything in the Church is a gift.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“It takes courage at any time and in any place to profess one's faith in Christ from within his body, the church.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“The Lord is always with his Church, and the Holy Spirit guides us in our understanding of the faith.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“When government fails to protect the con¬sciences of its citizens, it falls to religious bodies—especially those formed by the gospel of Jesus Christ—to become the defenders of human freedom.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“Peter repents, while Judas kills himself. Then and now, there are two possibilities open to sinful Christians, including those whom Jesus has chosen to be his apostles and their successors: repentance or despair.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“In Christ, we learn who we are and what is our destiny as human beings.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“To bless is to bring God’s grace into every dimension of creation.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“Buildings eventually will decay but people are eternal, and if you help somebody or change their life, that lasts forever. That’s the glory of priestly ministry, that what you do has eternal consequences. It’s also our shame if we don’t do it right.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“Every place is missionary.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“The world moving through time is also made up of space. Height, depth, breadth, the directions of the compass and of movement, distances both great and small are the dimensions of space in which the universe exists.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“Artists as well, like every man and woman, fashion their own lives through moral actions which shape a person’s character. Each of us is a masterpiece, not just as we come from God’s hand but also as we take the structures of human nature and act to create our particular personality. Our handiwork, made possible through the effects of God’s grace in our lives, will finally be judged by a jury of One, when God looks at who we have become through our lifetime’s constant sculpting in acts and intentions, in the doing of what is right and good or in destroying ourselves through sin. Each of us crafts a human person using the materials given us by God through our parents and family.”
― Cardinal Francis George

“There is the old story about people who would prefer to watch an eclipse of the moon on television rather than step outside the house and see what the eclipse really looks like. Pictures and theories about reality are more acceptable than reality itself, because pictures and theories are our creation and reality is God’s. It’s no wonder, then, that religions we make up are more comfortable for us than what God has revealed to us about himself.”
― Francis Cardinal George

“It seems strange to me that we should lift high the book of Gospels, which remains only a book, but be embarrassed to elevate the consecrated host, which is the Body of the Lord. It is a good thing to find a prominent and visible place in the church for the blessed oils and consecrated chrism which are used in the sacraments, but they remain oil and chrism; how strange it is that we should be fighting over whether or not people should be able to spot without too much inconvenience the place where the Eucharist is reserved. The Eucharist is a mystery of faith; to dismiss Eucharistic adoration is to weaken the faith.”
― Francis George