Ponder the fact that God has made you a gardener, to root out vice and plant virtue.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
We've been deceived by the thought that we would be more pleasing to God in our own way than in the way God has given us.
Interpretation
What this quote means
People often believe they can define their relationship with God in their own terms instead of following the path laid out by God.
This quote by St. Catherine of Siena reflects the common human inclination to seek personal preferences in spiritual matters, suggesting that there is a divine order or way of living that is more pleasing to God than our self-fashioned approaches. It highlights the importance of humility and obedience in one's faith, pointing out that true fulfillment comes from aligning with God's intentions rather than pursuing individual desires.
Themes
FaithObedienceDivineSpiritualityHumility
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is suitable for a spiritual retreat to encourage participants to reflect on their faith.
More from St. Catherine Of Siena
All quotes βWhen it seems that God shows us the faults of others, keep on the safer side-it may be that your judgment is false. On your lips let silence abide. And any vice that you may ascribe to others, ascribe at once to them and yourself, in true humility. If that vice really exists in a person, he will correct himself better, seeing himself so gently understood, and will say of his own accord the thing that you would have said to him.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
O unfathomable depth! O Deity eternal! O deep ocean! What more could You give me than to give me Yourself?
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his left and right hand. He uses both.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
There is no perfect virtue-none that bears fruit- unless it is exercised by means of our neighbor.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
Eternal Trinity... mystery deep as the sea, You could give me no greater gift than the gift of Yourself. For You are a fire ever burning and never consumed, which itself consumes all the selfish love that fills my being.
St. Catherine Of SienaRead
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