12 Inspirational Christian Quotes John H McGoey SFM

The Sins of the Just
Fr. John H. McGoey, S.F.M., author
Milwaukee: Bruce Publishing Company, 1963

12 Inspiring Christian Quotes from The Sins of the Just
John H. McGoey, S.F.M.*, author
Milwaukee WI: Bruce Publishing Company, 1963

Imprimi potest.  Nihil obstat.  Imprimatur.**

The Sins of the Just was written for Roman Catholic women both considering the religious life and those living within a religious order as nun.  Covering many aspects of everyday life within the religious community there is also good practical application for Christian readers living in the world.

In one sense, though on a much broader scale, all Christians are separated from the world spiritually, being as Christ taught, in the world but not of the world its many challenges of not succumbing to the temptation of joining in worldly ways.  

Sins of the Just was published just over 60 years past, yet the truths contained are still relevant and worthy of thought.  Used copies and print-on-demand of the book are available online through many book sites, as well as in libraries.  

Quotes by Fr. John H. McGoey, S.F.M.
Inspiring quotes for thought and inspiration

1 Mastering self is a hard process.  Spiritual exercises do not develop the soul as physical exercises do the body. Holiness sought begets pride oftener than union with god.  Time in religion cannot be equated with spirituality nor does it make sanctity inevitable.

2  Living for God is much more than avoiding blasphemy and other serious offenses against Him.  It is giving one’s life to God in very deed. 

3  Legal spirituality creates the theology of minimums.  The fulfillment of the least required amount, doing the bare necessities, establishing the lowest average for entering the Kingdom of Heaven, seeking to have one’s cake and eat it too—these are the factors in the theology of minimums. 

4  Many of the most effective fighters of modern war re not in uniform; they are heroes whose only insignia is bravery and their willingness to be forgotten in the victory they hope for. 

5  Tradition is sacred but it is not infallible.  If it were, Christopher Columbus would have died sitting on a dock in Genoa staring out into what was then considered space. 

6  Curiosity was given man by God so that he would seek knowledge through which he would learn more about even God himself. 

7  Love for truth demands great courage, for the truth reveals many unpleasant facts which will be faced only by the brave. 

8  Fearlessness comes from practice.  It comes from having gone into the valley of death and having come out alive; from having died to self and learned to live to God.  

9  Courage is only the refusal to be victimized by the emotion of fear or deprived of union with God by anticipation of its demands.

10  Tyranny is marked by intolerance of criticism.  Where there is freedom there is criticism as surely as where there is sun there is warmth.

11  There is only one sane reason for condemning criticism: the poor judgment of the critic.  But even criticism must be heard before it can be condemned.

12  The emotions are very useful.  They act like amber traffic lights.  These lights are not meant as a threat but as a safeguard to life, making a certain amount of time available for the though and action required to me the situation they reveal. 

*S.F.M., or Scarboro Foreign Mission Society: Scarboro Missions is a Society of Canadian Catholics, priests and laity, motivated by the Spirit, who dedicate themselves to the person, teaching and mission of Jesus Christ as expressed in his words, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10).  LINK to Scarboro Foreign Mission Society website.

**Imprimi potest, Latin for it can be printed, is a declaration by a major superior of a Roman Catholic religious institute that writings on questions of religion or morals by a member of the institute may be printed.  Superiors make such declarations only after censors charged with examining the writings have granted the nihil obstat, a declaration of no objection. Final approval can then be given through the imprimatur, let it be printed, of the author's bishop or of the bishop of the place of publication. (source: Wikipedia.org).