“Even the countryside, even the landscape of France, whether in the low hills and lush meadows and apple orchards of Normandy or in the sharp and arid and vivid outline of the mountains of Provence, or in the vast rolling red vineyards of Languedoc, seems to have been made full of a special perfection… But the wonderful thing about France is how all her perfections harmonize so fully together.” – Thomas Merton
“To have a mission means to give life, to heal, and to liberate. It is to permit people to grow to freedom…To bear fruit is to bring life to people. Not to judge, not to condemn, but to forgive. It is to remove our neighbor’s burden.” – Jean Vanier “From Brokenness to Community”
"The ascetical life, therefore, must be begun and carried on with a supreme respect for temprament, character, and emotion, and for everything that makes us human. These too are integral elements in personality and thefore in sanctity- because a saint is one whom God's love has fully developed into a person in the likeness of his Creator" - Thomas Merton
WHY ARE YOU SWIMMING?!