One night I had a lot of questions about life and serving others. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough, or that I wasn’t doing it right. I felt like I was wandering with no direction, and didn’t trust God to let Him take control. That night was not fun — so I picked up a book I had ignored for a long time.
Pope John Paul II answered all my questions in one chapter.
You don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate his wisdom. You will get through this book and find yourself comforted. Even though life is hard, we are never alone.
The book gives you of hope, and you’ll find yourself reading things twice because of their depth.
I copied entire chapters in my journal, and hope to come back for a second read. These words are worth digging into, for they are gold.
One of my favorite passages is on conscience:
Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a person, where we are alone with God. … If you follow Christ, you will restore your conscience to its rightful place and proper role, and you will be the light of the world, the salt of the earth.
The Pope had an insight on conscience I never considered before. Our lives are so hectic that we drown out the voice in our head, which is a mistake–because our conscience doesn’t only remind us of our mistakes. By our conscience we also discover countless graces.
It is in our heart that the Lord communicates with us most.
He also commented on truth:
The guarantee that objective truth exists is found in God, who is absolute Truth. Objectively speaking, the search for truth and the search for God are the same.
[…] the truth must be passionately pursued and lived to the best of one’s ability. Freedom of conscience, rightly understood, is by its very nature always ordered to the truth.
This book is short, powerful, and indeed brings peace to the faithful. If you know someone going through a rough time, I cannot recommend this book more. Read it and keep a journal on your thoughts–come back to it later and read again. The words will never lose their power.
The preaching of Christian morality must not empty Christ’s Cross of its power.
