QUOTATION: The Present Moment

Let the hope of one day doing great things in the service of God not make you neglect the present moment.

--St. Ignatius Loyola

QUOTATION: Serving God

No one can serve God perfectly who does not try energetically to break the bonds of the world and rise above all earthly cares.

--St. Bonaventure

QUOTATION: To Be a Good Servant of God

To be a good servant of God is not to be always consoled, always in sweetness, always without aversion or repugnance for virtue; if it were, then neither St. Paul, nor St. Angela, nor St. Catherine of Sienna, would have properly served God. To be a good servant of God is to be charitable towards our neighbour, to possess an inviolable resolution in the superior part of the soul to follow the will of God, to have such a profound humility and simplicity as will make us confide entirely in God and rise again when we fall, to endure patiently ourselves and our abjections, and to endure tranquilly our neighbours and their imperfections.

--St. Francis de Sales, Consoling Thoughts

QUOTATION: Serving God Must Be Unconditional

Many, on the other hand, are willing to serve God, but it must be in such an employment, in such a place, with such companions, or under such circumstances, or else they either quit the work, or do it with an ill-will. Such persons have not freedom of spirit, but are slaves of self-love; and on that account gain very little merit by what they do; they lead a troubled life, because the yoke of Jesus Christ becomes a burden to them.

--St. Alphonsus Liguori, The Holy Eucharist

QUOTATION: Service

He who does something good and expects a reward is serving not God but his own will.

--St. Mark the Ascetic

QUOTATION: Service

I have been all things unholy. If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.

--St. Francis of Assisi

QUOTATION: Sad Faces

It is not fitting, when one is in God's service, to have a gloomy face or a chilling look.

--St. Francis of Assisi

QUOTATION: Service to the Poor

It is not enough to give soup and bread. This the rich can do. You are the servant of the poor, always smiling and good-humored. They are your masters, terribly sensitive and exacting master you will see. And the uglier and the dirtier they will be, the more unjust and insulting, the more love you must give them. It is only for your love alone that the poor will forgive you the bread you give to them.

--St. Vincent de Paul

QUOTATION: Serving God

Above all, let us bend all our energies to serve God in the way he wishes. This remark is made so that we may avoid the mistake of him who wastes his time in idle day-dreaming. Such a one says, "If I were to become a hermit, I would become a saint" or "If I were to enter a monastery, I would practice penance" or "If I were to go away from here, leaving friends and companions, I would devote long hours to prayer." If, If, If--all these if's! In the meantime such a person goes from bad to worse. These idle fancies are often temptations of the devil, because they are not in accord with God's will. Hence we should dismiss them summarily and rouse ourselves to serve God only in that way which he has marked out for us. Doing his holy will, we shall certainly become holy in those surroundings in which he has placed us.


--St. Alphonsus Liguori, Uniformity with God’s Will

QUOTATION: Prayer

If we pray, we will believe; If we believe, we will love; If  we love, we will serve.  

-- Mother Teresa.