A fundamental principle of Catholic theology is that grace perfects nature rather than setting it aside; and that means that the Christian life is not a two-layer cake, the supernatural simply added on to the natural. It transforms the natural but by perfecting it, not by demeaning it.

Christ changed every human being he ever met. In fact, He changed history, splitting it open like a coconut and inserting eternity into the split between B.C. and A.D. If anyone claims to have met Him without being changed, he has not met Him at all. When you touch Him, you touch lightning. Socrates is puzzled because he is looking for the burn marks.

Stop allowing things from the past to control you in the present or hinder you in the future. Paul shook things off. He didn't let them cling to him like anchors pulling him down.

Human beings are very good at adapting to what happens.

Love of novelties has been the shipwreck of many a soul.

Jesus Christ is able to untangle all the snarls in your soul, to banish all your complexes, and to transform even your fixed habit patterns, no matter how deeply they are etched in your subconscious.

Of course it was not my wholeness, but Christ's that made the difference.

And I've never met anybody who said that they were sorry that the Lord Jesus had entered their hearts.

When something goes wrong, what's the best course of action? To change your direction. The word repentance means to stop going one direction (your own way) and turn toward the right direction (God's way). Your past may be a part of who you are, but it certainly doesn't have to define your future. Or if you feel stuck and unable to change directions and move toward God, think of this transformation another way. The Bible says that God is the Potter and we are his clay (Jer. 18:2-6).

Remember, to get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done. But to get what you once had, you must do what you once did.

We may claim to believe in God, but we don't want to believe so much that it makes us different.

But until a person can say deeply and honestly, "I am what I am today because of the choices I made yesterday," that person cannot say, "I choose otherwise.