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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
James Martin
Read between
July 28 - August 27, 2025
faith gives meaning to both the joys and struggles of life.
During times of hardship, faith is an anchor. And the Christian faith also holds out the promise of life beyond this earthly one.
faith is a gift from God. But faith isn’t something that you just have.
the path of belief is not without its stumbling blocks.
As the Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote in The Seven Storey Mountain, “The first and most elementary test of one’s call to the religious life—whether as a Jesuit, Franciscan, Cistercian or Carthusian—is the willingness to accept life in a community in which everybody is more or less imperfect.” That holds for any religious organization.
as long as we’re human, we will be imperfect.
Macmurray, has a different maxim: “Fear not; the things you are afraid of are quite likely to happen to you, but they are nothing to be afraid of.”
Ignatius’s approach meets you on your path and leads you closer to God.
There is a human and sinful side to religion since religions are human organization, and therefore prone to sin.
Experiencing God also comes through personal interactions within the community.
Gratitude, peace, and joy are ways that God communicates with us. During these times, we are feeling a real connection with God, though we might not initially identify it as such.
The pull that draws you to God comes from God.
It’s freeing to say, “This is what I desire in life.” Naming our desires may also make us more grateful when we finally receive the fulfillment of our hopes.
When we tell God our desires, our relationship with God deepens.
when my defenses were down, I was able to see things more clearly.
Fear is a natural reaction to the divine, to the mysterium tremendum et fascinans, as the theologian Rudolf Otto says, the mystery that both fascinates and leaves us trembling.
Religious experiences are often dismissed—not out of doubt that they aren’t real, but out of fear that they are real after all.
In such uncommon longings, hidden in plain sight in our lives, does God call us.
“In the bright sunshine of God’s love, your shadows begin to emerge.”
Holiness in others calls out to the holy parts of ourselves. “Deep calls to deep,” as Psalm 42:7 says.
“Dying is about becoming more human.”
“God meets you where you are.”
“You don’t have to change for God to love you.” This is one of the main insights of the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius: you are loved even in your imperfections. God already loves you.
When I asked where he most found God, his face immediately brightened and he said, “My children!” It was easy for him to find God once he knew where to look.
Seek grace in the smallest things, and you will also find grace to accomplish, to believe in, and to hope for the greatest things. —Blessed Peter Favre, S.J., one of the first Jesuits
all of us are still loved by God—more than we can ever imagine.
Dick reminded me that when we feel resistance to something in prayer, it’s often because we’re resisting God’s invitation to growth.
“Stop searching, little fish,” says de Mello. “There isn’t anything to look for. All you have to do is look.”
Holy people teach you something about how God works, and in this way you learn about God.
learning about God is part of being in relationship with God.
Be honest with God about everything.
