Every Catholic is called to be an apostle and an evangelist spreading the faith, but apostolic work needs to begin by immersing ourselves in prayer. To share Christ with others, we need intimate union with Him first. Without that, human effort is useless!
Dom Jean-Baptiste Chautard: To transmit divine truths to the intellects of men! Is not this ministry worthy of angels? It is a good thing to contemplate the truth, and better still to pass it on to others. To reflect the light is something more than simply to receive it. It is better to give light, than to shine under a bushel. By contemplation the soul is fed; by the apostolate, it gives itself away....interior life and active life! Holiness within works! A powerful union and a fruitful one. What miracles of conversion it can work!
Pope St. Pius X: The person who is not accustomed to speaking with God in the intimacy of prayer will never be able to speak efficaciously of the things which have to do with eternal life. No matter how learned and eloquent his words may be, if they lack the breath of prayer, they cannot have the power of convincing and persuading. The word of God is dead on the lips of such a person because the sense of Christ is lacking in him.
St. Francis Borgia: I ask for the abhorrence of what the world loves, and to love that which the world abhors. I ask for the grace to separate myself always from that which impedes spiritual good...I ask for the grace to guard the doors of the senses because death enters through the windows. I ask that the Lord keep me in true peace and humility of soul....I ask for the humility to give an advantage to others, holding them as superior...that in this way we may all grow in devotion and praise of the Lord....Have pity on me! You alone are my home. Enlighten my blindness, that by knowing myself I might know you.