Charism Quotes

What, then, of the priest's iconic representation of Christ at the altar? If there is no specifically masculine or feminine charism or ontology, the significance of the priest's maleness fades away. What matters - as patristic Christology recognized centuries ago with its dictum, 'That which is not assumed [by the Son of God in the incarnation] is not healed' - is that Christ became human, assuming and thereby healing the nature common to men and women. Although biologically a man, Christ assumed human nature in such a way as to include both men and women in his salvific work. And that means, in turn, that to refuse to allow a woman to preside at the Eucharist may be to say much more than opponents of women's ordination realize - namely, 'that women are not adequate icons of Christ.' The result, notes [Sarah] Hinlicky Wilson near the end of her book, is nothing less than 'to leave both their humanity and their salvation in doubt.' If women can't reflect the human nature of Christ at the altar, how then can they trust Christ's human nature to save them at all? ~ Wesley Hill

The sublime state of peace of mind, despite our woundedness, emits a sense of comfort and gentleness to others, an inner charm that calms an anxious soul amid our benevolent presence, like a wild deer that drinks water from the serenity of the forest, and then leaves as quietly as it arrives fully quenched from its thirst. ( - Danny Castillones Sillada, The Quietude of the Soul) ~ Danny Castillones Sillada

I like to say that women are those who form life in their wombs - and this is a comparison I make - they have this charism of giving you things you can build with. ~ Pope Francis

But the saints are never the kind of killjoy spinster aunts who go in for faultfinding and lack all sense of humor. (Nor should the Karl Barth who so loved and understood Mozart be regarded as such.)For humor is a mysterious but unmistakable charism inseparable from Catholic faith, and neither the "progressives" nor the "integralists" seem to possess it - the latter even less than the former. ~ Hans Urs Von Balthasar