With God in America Quotes

“if you are in a situation or difficulty, you can make a U-turn; instead of putting the blame on something outside or on someone else, look within yourself to see how you have contributed to the problem, and then find a way to restore peace to the situation.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“You see, only the humble man or woman can teach Christ, can give him and his love to others, because the proud man or woman just can’t really have Christ. The proud person is so filled with himself that there is no room for Christ. And I can’t in any way give what I do not have. I can’t give Christ if I don’t have him myself. The wonder of humility is that it teaches us that we are nothing: that we have nothing of ourselves to give to others; that no matter how brilliant or holy we are, all this is from God.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“Although, as God, he needed no glorification, as man, he did bring about the glorification of his human body through his final suffering. He rose because He died; he was glorified because he suffered. He could have had the glory and the peace and the unending joy in his body at any time, because he was God and he had a right to it. But the fact remains that he had none of these things until after he suffered. We have many, many examples from the life of Christ, but there is none greater than his suffering. He taught you and me how to live with it. If he cried, cannot we? If he showed hurt in his life, cannot we? If he begged to be relieved, cannot we? If he even complained to God, will God punish us if, in the midst of our hurt or pain, we complain to him, Our Father?”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“And each one of us drives love from our lives, drives the longing, the desire for happiness and peace from our lives, each time we run from generosity. There is no love, there is no peace, there is no joy without him. He and he alone is our reward exceedingly great; no physical comfort, no thing, no person can ever truly fill our lives.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“If we sincerely try, there is going to be some influence had. It matters not whether we see the good being done or not; that does not pertain to us. That is God’s affair. The persevering in doing good is what ultimately counts before God and men.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“Children are told to humor their elders who still believe in such things and have never had the scientific and technical training that would show them how incompatible such notions are with modern science.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“Faith is inseparable from love; out of these two twins hope is born.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“He wants men of greatest generosity and self-sacrificing,” he wrote, “who renounce their own will and embrace his will instead.” So, “Lord, if that is thy will in regard to me, unworthy one, I embrace it fully and promise with thy grace to remain faithful to the end to thy most holy will. This is my life, my joy, my strength and courage.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“He desired nothing more than to serve God . . . and nothing less. As he shared his story, bit by bit, during the days of my retreat, he gave the clear impression that his life was not about him but rather a reflection of the movement and action of God in his life. He liked sharing his story, because it allowed him to share about God. He was faithful because he knew to the core of his being that God was faithful, and he clearly enjoyed helping others to the same understanding. He was a living example of both the simplicity and profundity of what it means to be a person of faith.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“The success of any enterprise depends on personal effort, persistence, prudence, and basically on deep faith in God.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“A resolute, decisive, open, courageous character with deep faith in God is what you want to develop.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“That is, living one’s full life for God, taking into consideration first of all the actual and then the remote possible good and evil, and then properly preparing oneself with the help of God for any occasion. This is done by prayer, vigilance, and knowledge. Knowledge leads us to God, gives us God, and [enables us to] have life in him. If somebody says he is happy without God, he lies. No creature can satisfy the soul of man which was created for God.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit

“Great gifts received from God—such as love of him, deep faith, or martyrdom—are given irrespectively of our merits, efforts, cooperation, sufferings, determination. They are free gifts (supernatural) bestowed upon those whom God chooses. The disposition will follow if God chooses.”
― Walter J. Ciszek, With God in America: The Spiritual Legacy of an Unlikely Jesuit