The True Measure of our Love for God

From the Diary of Father Frederic Baraga, the snowshoe priest:
There is no doubt that the love of God consists neither of sweet tears nor inner comfort and sensibility, but rather in that we serve Him with righteousness, fortitude, and true humility.

A truly loving soul finds its greatest peace by expending everything that it is, has and is capable of for the Beloved, and the more dear and admirable something may be, the more readily it is given.

The highest and truest perfection of the spiritual life consists not of inner charm or comfortable sentiment, nor of raptures, appearances and offerings of prophecy, but rather of the uniformity of our will with the will of God.

Whoever adheres to that which is mortal, everything that he does under those circumstances will be for him incomplete. Whoever follows that which is lost, also will be lost.

Whoever owns such mortal things to the extent that his whole will is possessed by them, he has and owns nothing. Rather those things will imprison, own and torment him.