— From “Benedict XVI: Spiritual Thoughts in the First Year of His Papacy” by United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

On spiritual deserts: “…the emptiness of souls no longer aware of their dignity or the goal of human life.”
“The world is redeemed by the patience of God. It is destroyed by the impatience of man.”
“The Word of God and reason go together.”
“We cannot communicate with the Lord if we cannot communicate with each other.”
“…without suffering, nothing is transformed.”
“…for the ascent to life’s future it is essential to exercise an interior life.”
“True joy is something different from pleasure; joy grows and continues to mature in suffering, in communion with the Cross of Christ.”
“The more you seek Him, the more you are moved to seek Him.”
“…only those who first listen to the Word can become preachers of it.”
“…no community can forego the witness of a prayerful priest…”
“‘Spiritual reading’ of Sacred Scripture consists of pouring over a biblical text for some time, reading it and rereading it, as it were, ‘ruminating’ on it as the Fathers say and squeezing from it, so to speak, all its ‘juice,’ so that it may nourish meditation and contemplation and, like water, succeed in irrigating life itself.”
“Deceived by atheism they consider and seek to prove that it is scientific to think that all things lack guidance and order as though they were at the mercy of chance.”
“The closer a person is to God, the closer he is to people.”
“Faith…is the criterion that determines our lifestyle.”