Pope John XXIII – The modernisation of the Catholic Church through his teachings
Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, was the 261st pope of the Roman Catholic Church, serving from 1958 to 1963. He is widely remembered for his role in convening the Second Vatican Council, which aimed to modernise and renew the Catholic Church’s practices and doctrines. He died on June 3, 1963, but his legacy as a compassionate and forward-thinking leader endures within the Catholic Church and beyond. He was canonized as a saint by Pope Francis in 2014
The following are some quotes from his teaching
Whoever has a heart full of love always has something to give.
Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
What unites us, is much greater than what divides us
I want to throw open the windows of the Church so that we can see out and the people can see in.
Do not walk through time without leaving worthy evidence of your passage
Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. We must always remember this. The actual words matter less
Never Hesitate to hold out your hand; never hesitate to accept the outstretched hand of another
I live by the mercy of Jesus, to whom I owe everything and from whom I expect everything.
See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little.
A peaceful man does more good than a learned one.
To keep me from sin and straying from Him, God has used devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. My life vows destined to be spent in the light irradiating from the tabernacle, and it is to the Heart of Jesus that I dare go for the solution of all my problems
It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope
Before everything else, fidelity to the Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic. Jesus did not found several churches, but one single Church.
Anybody can be Pope; the proof of this is that I have become one
Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams.
O Jesus, come back into our society, our family life, our souls and reign there as our peaceful Sovereign. Enlighten with the splendour of faith and the charity of Your tender heart the souls of those who work for the good of the people, for Your poor. Impart to them Your own spirit, a spirit of discipline, order and gentleness, preserving the flame of enthusiasm ever alight in their hearts… May that day come very soon, when we shall see You restored to the centre of civic life, borne on the shoulders of Your joyful people.
If God created shadows it was to better emphasise the light.
The Rosary is a magnificent and universal prayer for the needs of the Church, the nations and the entire world
The solidarity which binds all men together as members of a common family makes it impossible for wealthy nations to look with indifference upon the hunger, misery and poverty of other nations whose citizens are unable to enjoy even elementary human rights. The nations of the world are becoming more and more dependent on one another and it will not be possible to preserve a lasting peace so long as glaring economic and social imbalances persist.
The Rosary is a school for learning true Christian perfection.
O Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I would like to be filled with love for You; keep me closely united with You, may my heart be near to Yours. I want to be to You like the apostle John. O Mary of the Rosary, keep me recollected when I say these prayers of yours; bind me forever, with your rosary, to Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament. Blessed be Jesus, my love.
Every time I hear anyone speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus or of the Blessed Sacrament I feel an indescribable joy. It is as if a wave of precious memories, sweet affections and joyful hopes swept over my poor person, making me tremble with happiness and filling my soul with tenderness.
Men are like wine – some turn to vinegar, but the best improve with age.
From his Spiritual Testament
Born poor, but of humble and respected folk, I am particularly happy to die poor, having distributed, according to the various needs and circumstances of my simple and modest life in the service of the poor and of the holy Church which has nurtured me, whatever came into my hands –and it was very little –during the years of my priesthood and episcopate.
John XXIII.Spiritual Testament. 1954 p.343, Journal of a Soul
In the hour of farewell, or, better, of leave-taking, I repeat once more that what matters most in this life is: our blessed Jesus Christ, his holy Church, his Gospel, and in the Gospel above all else the Our Father according to the mind and heart of Jesus, and the truth and goodness of his Gospel, goodness which must be meek and kind, hardworking and patient, unconquerable and victorious.
John XXIII.Spiritual Testament. 1954 p.343, Journal of a Soul
On Family
(16.) The family, founded upon marriage freely contracted, one and indissoluble, must be regarded as the natural, primary cell of human society. The interests of the family, therefore, must be taken very specially into consideration in social and economic affairs, as well as in the spheres of faith and morals. For all of these have to do with strengthening the family and assisting it in the fulfilment of its mission
John XXIII.Pacem in Terris. 1963
Human rights
(11) Man has the right to live. He has the right to bodily integrity and to the means necessary for the proper development of life, particularly food, clothing, shelter, medical care, rest, and, finally, the necessary social services. In consequence, he has the right to be looked after in the event of illhealth; disability stemming from his work; widowhood; old age; enforced unemployment; or whenever through no fault of his own he is deprived of the means of livelihood.
From the saints I must take the substance, not the accidents of their virtues. I am not St. Aloysius, nor must I seek holiness in his particular way, but according to the requirements of my own nature, my own character and the different conditions of my life. I must not be the dry, bloodless reproduction of a model, however perfect. God desires us to follow the examples of the saints by absorbing the vital sap of their virtues and turning it into our own life-blood, adapting it to our own individual capacities and particular circumstances. If St. Aloysius had been as I am, he would have become holy in a different way.
We are not on earth as museum keepers, but to cultivate a flourishing garden of life and to prepare a glorious future.
… just as food is necessary to the life of the body, so good reading is necessary to the life of the soul.