[387.1] THE TERROR OF GRATUITY

"It is hard to believe in [Christ’s love] because it is a devouring love. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of a living God. If we do once catch a glimpse of it we are afraid of it. Once we recognize that we are [children] of God, that the seed of divine life has been painted in us at baptism, we are overcome by that obligation placed upon us of growing in the love of God."
~ Dorothy Day, from 'To Die For Love', The Catholic Worker, September 1948.

"Ultimately, we are reborn to love because in this expanding, gracious space within us, we arrive at the astonishing presence of God at the core of our life. We blunder into the heart of God and find our own."
~ Sue Monk Kidd, from Firstlight

"Humanism was not wrong in thinking that truth, beauty, liberty, and equality are of infinite value, but in thinking that [we human beings] can get them for [ourselves] without grace." ~ Simone Weil, Inspiration Occitanien

[Pic: Dorothy Day, (c) Catholic Worker]

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