Touched by an Angel, Season 1

Tess:
Why you got that look on your face? You just been promoted, baby.

Monica:
I just thought casework would be more than baby-sitting.

Tess:
Oh, you'll be surprised. There always seems to be more to it. People are complicated things.

Monica:
I know. That's what I love about them. How do they do it, Tess? They get up every morning and start all over again. Takes a lot of courage to do that. And they don't even know what we know.

Tess:
God help 'em.

Tess:
[parting advice for Monica's first experience in human form] Don't start eating everything you see. Now I spend my first assignment as a food tester for one of the Caesars. Look at me. It takes a century to take it off.

Tess:
Did I tell you to think north? No, I distinctly remember telling you to get on the bus and go north. Go north. Now, you get your little angel butt back to the city, and take care of business.

Monica:
But I am. I'm helping David.

Tess:
You were told to stay close to David. That's what he needs.

Monica:
What David needs is his mother, and all of a sudden my instincts were kicking in, and...

Tess:
Wait just a minute. Let me see if I understand you correctly. You want me to go back to the Creator of the Universe, the Alpha, the Omega, the Great I Am and explain that the words of the Almighty were disobeyed because Monica's instincts kicked in?

Ruth Ann:
[when asked to accompany Monica to the Dead Dog Saloon] I hate those places. All the noise, the smoke, the crowds. And that's just in the ladies room.

Christine:
There isn't a single night that I don't lie in bed and ask myself: Did Katie cry and I didn't hear? Did I turn the television up too loud? Why didn't I just walk into the room and kiss her goodnight again?

Monica:
It's time to forgive yourself.

Christine:
I can't.

Monica:
I'll help you. I'm an angel. [Christine refuses and wants to drive away only to find that there is no car] I'll give it back, I promise. Really, I am an angel.

Christine:
You're an angel?! You're an angel, so what?! What are you doing here now? Where the hell were you a year ago? Where was the angel when my baby died alone in her crib? Why didn't an angel come down and take me out of my bed and drag me into that nursery? Why didn't an angel dial 9-101 for me? Where the hell was the damn angel then?!! [breaks down in tears] Oh, God, why did you send an angel?

Monica:
[embraces her] Christine, there was an angel with your baby that night. That's what she was there for. And it's the same angel who's with her right now and forever. God loves you, Christine. So much you can't even imagine. And so do I.

Monica:
(praying, depressed) What I want to know is....Why did You give me a heart if You didn't want me to follow it? (Drops to her knees as she's crying) Love doesn't hide, that's what You said. It hopes all things, it endures all things, it never fails, it stays and it fights. That's what I'm fighting with now. I love that little boy. Please, if I messed things up, please help me to put them back on track. Don't let that child spend one more minute without his mother and don't let his father spend one more lonely night. Please. Please help me. Please.

Monica:
It worked. Thank God it worked.

Tess:
What'd you do?

Monica:
I did something really radical, Tess. I prayed.

Tess:
Now you know that's dangerous. But if you think that gets you out of that little mess of yours, you got another thing coming.

Monica:
Oh, c'mon! Admit it. I pulled it off.

Tess:
You and who else?

Monica:
[while practicing baseball] Are you sure this is how it's done?

Tess:
You are speaking to the angel who told the Babe which way to point. And you know who kept Kirk Gibson in that locker room 'til he was ready to hit that home run?

Tess:
He's got a temper the size of Montana, this coach. But the wind is changing. A mighty storm is rising. And the rains are about to fall hard on that man. And he's going to need an angel to hold the umbrella.

Monica:
Me.

Monica:
It seems to me that encouragement goes a lot farther with a person than yelling.

Coach Earl:
Losers get encouragement. Winners get coached. [To his team] C'mon, guys.

Monica:
That's funny. I thought you caught a lot more fleas with honey.

Tess:
[whispers] Flies.

Monica:
Flies.

Earl:
You gotta drink what you toast or it doesn't work.

Monica:
[Holding a bottle of Tabasco sauce] Coach, don't tell me you're superstitious.

Tess:
Malicious is more like it.

Earl:
They let down their guard for one minute or they got sloppy for an instant, that's the opening the enemy is waiting for and bingo! They're dead.

Monica:
But this is baseball. These are kids playing against kids, not the enemy.

Earl:
No difference. Today it's baseball. Someday it'll be something else. Kids gotta learn to fight to win in a job or..

Monica:
Or in a war?.... So that's how it happened. In a war. You got sloppy and you got hurt. Are you really trying to save these kids from the same thing? Or do you just need someone to pay for it?

Monica:
Sometimes we have to stand up and fight for what we believe in. And sometimes, it takes even more courage to stay put. To hold your ground and refuse to be bullied.

Peter:
It doesn't always stop it.

Monica:
No. It doesn't change the bully. But it changes you.

Tess:
I told you he needed an umbrella but I didn't tell you to hit him on the head with it.

Monica:
I know. I got angry.

Tess:
Well, anger's not so bad. You just gotta be careful where you put it. So now you're sitting out here contemplating the infinite, huh?

Monica:
And what it takes to run it. [sigh] I can't see the plan, Tess. I know I'm supposed to be doing something but I don't know what. He said so many awful things.

Tess:
You see, that anger's clouding his brain. Forget what he said. What did you hear?

Monica:
I heard fear. Fear that his life has been a waste. He knows that he's dying. And he knows that he's dying by himself.

Tess:
Oh, honey, we all die by ourselves. It's living by ourselves that hurts. What is he leaving behind that will last?

Monica:
I don't know.

Tess:
Some of our best living is done by the people we leave behind.

Monica:
[the day of the big game] Tess, any last minute pointers?

Tess:
Well, same thing I told the Babe. Hit far and run fast.

Monica:
That's it?

Tess:
Well, I never got any complaints outta him.

Earl:
You know, until last night, I was afraid of this. Dying.

Monica:
Until last night, you weren't really living.

Monica:
[Sniffing coffee] Wow! This smells incredible, Tess.

Tess:
Honey, will you wake up and stop smelling the coffee? Sooner or later, you gotta drink it. It's like life. You never really know how good it is until you taste it. And all coffee doesn't taste the same.

Monica:
What's espresso? I always hear about espresso.

Tess:
Strong and bitter. Some people like it like that: straight ahead, rich, undiluted. There's another side to an espresso kind of life. Heartburn. That's the price you pay for all that flavor.

Monica:
You make it sound so dangerous.

Tess:
Well, I've had my flings with danger. But my favorite is a good ol' cup of Joe: straight ahead, honest, no camouflage. 'Cause when you try to hide what's underneath, you end up feeling miserable.

Elizabeth:
Want a drink?

Monica:
Oh, I'd love a cup of non-fat decaf mocha latte with a little nutmeg on the side.... Or a cup of Joe?

Elizabeth:
I got iced tea.

Monica:
Well, I haven't worked up to tea yet but how about a nice cup of water?

[At dinner with her daughter Sydney and granddaughter Beth]

Elizabeth:
I think the last lover I had in Rome was a New Wave director. Now what was his name?

Sydney:
For Heaven's sake, Mother!

Elizabeth:
Don't give me that holier-than-thou pious look of yours, Sydney. When was the last time you had a lover? Might do you some good, you know.

Monica:
[interjecting] A good brisk walk in the morning always does me a lot of good.

[As Sydney and Beth leave]

Monica:
Sydney, I'm sorry. I didn't realize.

Sydney:
What?

Monica:
That your mother has a drinking problem.

Sydney:
My mother doesn't have a drinking problem. My mother is an alcoholic.

Sydney:
Do you have any idea what it's like to watch your own mother self-destruct? I love her. She's ... She's my mother but I've given up.

Monica:
No! You must never give up, Sydney.

Sydney:
You know ... You know what the really hard thing is? It's that I know. I know what I need to do. I know what it's gonna take. It's just I can't do it alone.

Monica:
Well, then. I'll help you.

Monica:
Why didn't you tell me from the start?

Tess:
Well, when you met Elizabeth, you made friends with a very strong and talented and interesting woman. If you had known then what you know today, you might have just seen the alcoholic and not the woman. And that's who we love and that's who we wanna help.

Monica:
But she doesn't want any help.

Tess:
Then it's up to you to help her want it.

Elizabeth:
And here it is. The pin from my ejection seat.

Monica:
The pilot gave this to you?

Elizabeth:
Honey, we lost two wheels in ground fire. There was no way I was going to try to land that thing. He thought it was the least I deserved.

Monica:
God loves you.

Elizabeth:
Why?

Monica:
Because you're Elizabeth. Not Elizabeth the journalist or the prizewinner or the alcoholic but because you're you. God loves you. Elizabeth, this is not who you were created to be. You spent your whole life running and running and trying so hard to catch up to something that was never there for you. But all you've done was go farther and farther away from that precious love that is always there for you. Now you've almost lost that completely.

Elizabeth:
[Incomprehensibly, in tears] I'm sorry. I'm sorry! Oh, God, I'm so sorry!! What am I gonna do?

Monica:
You just did it.

Tess:
Any marimba playing going on in there?

Monica:
Beautiful music, Tess. Beautiful music.

Tess:
That's gonna be some kind of interesting book of memoirs she's gonna write.

Monica:
Right. It'll be worth waiting for.

Tess:
It always is, baby. It always is.

Monica:
I'm afraid of the water.

Tess:
Say that again?

Monica:
I never had to work near lakes and oceans. I always asked to be excused from those and I was. Bad memories of the Flood, I guess.

Tess:
This is ridiculous! What is the first thing an angel says? "Fear not. Be not afraid. Except for large bodies of water." Is that it?

Monica:
I know there's nothing to be afraid of. I know it doesn't make any sense.

Tess:
Well, actually, it makes good sense now. The thing you're terrified of is something she loves.

Monica:
Who?

Tess:
Your next assignment, Angela Evans. She's fighting a terrible fear. The kind that comes in the night and whispers in your ear 'til dawn and then sends you running to the sea just to get the voices to quit for a little while. But Angela's voices won't quit. Not until her own voice drowns them out.

Angela:
I love your accent. You must be from the old country, huh?

Monica:
Yes, Very, very old.

Tess:
People only carry on in the dark when they don't want you to see what they're doing.

Angela:
Let me tell you something, Lundy. I lived with my father my whole life and I never knew him because he was too afraid to get to know me. Don't make the same mistake he did.

Angela:
It's funny. You seem to have all this wisdom but you don't know how to make a cup of coffee.

Monica:
That's the spice of life, I think. Everyone's on a different schedule. Maybe this is the night I'm supposed to learn how to make coffee. And maybe this is the night you're supposed to tell Carter the truth.

Monica:
Something's happening to me, Tess. I'm afraid.

Tess:
Like being afraid of the sea? Sometimes we're afraid of what we can't control. But Angela is going to make her decision to let her secret free or to bury it deeper.

Monica:
I wish I could make that decision for her.

Tess:
That's not what love does.

Monica:
I've never had a friend before.

Tess:
And what am I? Chopped liver?

Monica:
You know what I mean. The more I get to know about human beings, the more I get to know about myself.

Angela:
You saved me. Are you...?

Monica:
I am an angel.

Angela:
Like... Like a real angel? Sent by...?

Monica:
Sent by God.

Angela:
I knew there was something about you. Something so strong. Something so fearless. Something...Something I wanted to be. [Starts to cry]

Monica:
Shh...Look at me. Look at me, Angela. You are strong. You had the courage to make a sacrifice to save someone that you loved. And you taught me a lesson today. That love erases fear. For when I saw you out there, I would have dived into the deepest ocean to bring you back.

Angela:
It might not have been such a good idea.

Monica:
You made the choice, Angela. You want to live. You just don't want to live like this.

Angela:
But I can't change the past....Can you?

Monica:
[Shakes her head] But all you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And it is this moment right now that you can choose to make everything new.

Angela:
You know something about almost dying?

Monica:
No. actually, I don't.

Angela:
All of a sudden, there's not a whole lot more to be afraid of.

Tess:
Well, we all have our little idiosyncrasies. You don't like water and I'm not much on patience.

Monica:
You know, Tess, sometimes you can be really pushy.

Tess:
That's what friends are for.

Tess:
People are too busy to meet themselves anymore. Everybody's faxing and modeming and on-lining and inputting and downloading. You don't like it? Change the channel. Push the button: Escape. Delete. You know, you can say anything to anybody anywhere in the world in seconds. But it still takes as much time as it ever took to know a soul or mend a broken heart or give birth to a child. Even in this world of change, some things don't. And children like her get lost in the in-between.

Monica:
[to Cassie during a painful contraction] Cassie, I want you to imagine you're playing a beautiful flute solo. A strong, simple melody. Can you hear it? And now the melody is joined by an oboe, and a clarinet, and a horn. And now the strings take it up, playing faster, until it rises on a wave of percussion, until...until it's over.

Joanne:
I never had a grandchild before. It's just a little tough to get one and lose one all on the same day.

Monica:
[Witnessing a birth] I've never seen it from this side before. Oh, isn't it something?

Doctor:
How long have you been working on OD? I haven't seen you around here before.

Monica:
I've been working upstairs.

[When Craig, the boyfriend, arrives]

Cassie:
Shannon, we need some privacy.

Shannon:
Oh, right. Just remember privacy got you into this.

Cassie:
I know I'm not supposed to see the baby because then I won't want to give her up and the baby won't want to go either. But all I can think of is how down that hall, there's a part of me I may never see again. What's it gonna be like in 20 years from now if I never saw her? What's it gonna be like if I did? What should I do?

Monica:
Cassie, that's a decision that only you can make. But I believe that if you truly make that decision out of nothing but love, it'll be a decision you can live with.

Cassie:
What kind of nurse are you? Aren't you a little far from the hospital?

Monica:
I'm a floater. I go where I'm needed.

Monica:
Tess, what am I supposed to be doing with Cassie? Am I supposed to get her to go back to the Feldmans? Or am I supposed to help her keep her baby?

Tess:
You're supposed to help her become a good mother.

Cassie:
How am I gonna take care of her? I never knew being a mother would feel like this. It's so...every moment. I'm just a kid. I'm not a good mother.

Monica:
Oh, Cassie, you are a good mother because you know what it is to love your baby more than yourself.

Cassie:
But how do I know the Feldmans are the right parents for her?

Monica:
No one knows the future, Cassie. I can tell you this. Your daughter's going to have a wonderful life. She's going to have freckles just like you. And she'll have skinned knees and maybe a broken arm but she'll win the fourth grade spelling bee and become president of her sophomore class. And she'll fall in love... a few times. And Cassie, she'll play the violin in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Cassie:
How-How do you know all that?

Monica:
Because I'm an angel.

Cassie:
You mean like a psychic or something?

Monica:
[Chuckles] No, this is not a prediction, Cassie. It's a message. Do you remember when you were a child and you used to pray at night: "Please, God, let me make beautiful music"? Well, that prayer will be answered for generations to come because the beautiful music, it started with you.

Joanne:
[To Cassie] You made your decision. The Feldmans were there. Everything was planned. Except for how you'd feel. That's the only thing no one thought of.

Tess:
Honey, you are plunging into the lion's den. You're dealing with a lawyer.

[When Charles found out he gave the money to the wrong person, he visits Robin again]

Charles:
Am I to assume you purchased these items with the money we gave you yesterday?

Robin:
Yes. It was incredible! All my life, I'd wanted to spend an entire day in a shoe store and not even look at the prices.

Charles:
Well.... I'm afraid you're going to have to give those back.

Robin:
Yeah, I know. They make my calves look really fat.

Charles:
How could one person buy so many shoes, so many UGLY shoes?

Robin:
Probably because I had no shoes until I met a man who had no taste.

Monica:
Tess, isn't it amazing the different ways people think of to protect their feet.

Tess:
That's nothing. Look what they start thinking of when they start trying to protect their hearts.

Monica:
Charles? Poor dear. I can't even see his heart from here.

Tess:
Then you just gotta get closer.

[Trying to threaten Robin's ex-boyfriend]

Charles:
You know, bookmaking is illegal.

Smoky:
So's putting jerks in comas.

Monica (beating Smokey at pool):
Okey-dokey, Smokey. Four ball, side pocket. And the six ball left corner, not forgetting my favorite, number seven, in that corner.

(She makes the shot)

Robin:
Whoa!

Monica:
One and three, into the corner, into the two, into the five, side pocket, kissing the eight.

Smokey:
What are you, delusional? The cue ball's blocked by the eight!

(She makes the shot)

Smokey:
Where did you ever learn to play like that?

Monica:
Well, I once worked in a pool hall as a sort of security guard.

Tess:
When are you going to learn to stop hearing and start listening, Miss Wings?

[At a disco, watching people dance]

Tess:
[Cringing] I can't help but wonder which one of those kids I'm gonna see later in traction.

Monica:
They're expressing themselves, Tess.

Tess:
Whatever happened to the gavotte? And the minuet, you remember the minuet? 1-2-3, 1-2-3, bow and curtsey. Kept the hormones in a state of perpetual anticipation. That's my kind of thing. (Looks at Charles' dancing) 'Course, in his case, maybe he oughta do a little less anticipating and a little more expressing.

Tess:
Nothing's really wrong with the man's heart. Except he's terrified of letting it out again.

Monica:
Again?

Tess:
Well, what if you ran away from home and nobody noticed?

Monica:
What if you gave away your heart and nobody cared?

Monica:
All your life, you've been afraid of life. And if you haven't convinced yourself that you were dying then you'd decide you're too fat or too short or too anything as long as it could convince you to hide. But God made you, Charles, and He knew what He was doing. You're not too anything, except almost too late.

Monica:
She's late.

Tess:
There's no such thing as late. Destiny picks its own time.

Monica:
What do I do when it happens, Tess?

Tess:
Destiny doesn't happen. It arrives. And when it does, you either batten down the hatches and wait 'til it blows over or you swing open the gates and invite it in to supper.

Monica:
I wish it had a way of showing itself so she'd know what she's dealing with.

Tess:
[Slightly exasperated] Then it wouldn't be destiny.

Monica:
And I wouldn't have a job?

Tess:
You go, girl! Now you're getting it. [A wind blows] Hark.

Monica:
Hark?

Tess:
[Shrugs] I miss the old days.

[After Susanna and Megan nearly collide their cars into each other]

Susanna:
Are you hurt?

Megan:
That depends. Are you calling an ambulance or a lawyer?

[Adam is playing the piano but not very well]

Tess:
Where did you learn to play?

Adam:
Funerals.

[Tess and Adam are looking at a turkey that Tess wants Adam to handle since he's the Angel of Death]

Tess:
Send him to his reward!

Megan:
Sanity's overrated.

Monica:
Why do you suppose people take pictures?

Megan:
Well, deep down, I think it's our way on declaring war on death. You take a picture of something and if it goes away, you still have a piece of it.

Monica:
It seems to me that it's better to have all of it for a while than a piece of it forever.

Monica:
This is what you call an unexpected snow. One moment, the sky is clear and the next moment, it's falling down. Now you can run inside and hide or you can become part of it and let it change you.

[About Adam's Thanksgiving "assignment", the turkey]'

Tess:
You said you wanted to help out.

Adam:
Yes, but it's a little like inviting an accountant to dinner and then asking him to balance your checkbook.

Megan:
[To Jack] I always knew you had a wife. I just never realized you were married.

Megan:
All this time I told myself we had something special. But tonight when he looked at me and walked up the stairs with her, I realized: "My God! I'm just the other woman." I'm his secret. He's been keeping me in a room I didn't even know I was in.

Monica:
But you walked into that room all by yourself.

Megan:
I did the one thing I swore I'd never do. It's just that... after a while, you spend enough nights alone, you go to too many other people's weddings and baby showers, you spend too many holidays at other people's houses and you want just a little piece of happiness for yourself. Just for a while, you know. Just so that I could say someday that somebody wanted me. That somebody thought I was special.

Monica:
Megan, wanting to love someone and wanting to be loved in return, these things are good and right. But wanting them from someone else's husband is wrong.

Megan:
He's not supposed to be married! He's supposed to be with me! God's made a mistake.

Monica:
No, when things get this ugly and painful, God has nothing to do with them.

Megan:
Well, then I wish He'd tell me what to do now.

Monica:
I think He's just about to. [It starts to snow] Megan, when you cry, God cries with you. But He can't wipe away your tears unless you let Him.

Megan:
The road I took yesterday. It wasn't an accident. [Monica shakes her head] And this place...?

Monica:
This house was created for you, for this night, this moment. Megan, I'm an angel and this is your unexpected snow.

Megan:
Well, I can't! I can't give him up and I won't! You go tell that to God. Why can't He just let me have this?

Monica:
Because there's better love for you.

Megan:
Where?

Monica:
I don't know where. And I don't know when. The only thing I do know is that the kind of love worth waiting for, you won't have to lie for or steal or keep it hidden in a box to visit on weekends.

Megan:
Well, it may not be a great love but it's my love.

Monica:
No, it isn't. It belongs to Susanna.

Tess:
Brace yourself, Jack, 'cause I don't have a lot of time to pussyfoot around with you. I'm an angel sent by God. Now you can accept that or not but what you will accept when I'm finished is the concept of fidelity: lock, stock and barrel. Do I make myself clear? [Silence] I'll take that as a yes.

[Later, on the swing, in Jack's old honeymoon spot]

Jack:
Pretty soon, we stopped finding things to talk about. And after a while, we just drifted apart.

Tess:
When two people are on a journey, there will be miles when they fall silent. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be traveling together.

Jack:
The last time I sat on this swing, I was scared to death. Susanna was inside, asleep and I spent half the night just terrified that I've given my life over to another person. One person. Forever. Someone I loved so much that I just couldn't imagine her not being in my life. Maybe that's what scared me the most. I think that's finally why I had an affair. The more you invest in one person, the more you have to lose if you lose her.

Tess:
So you just decided to spread your wonderful self all around, huh? Gave you an easy way out the back door, doesn't it?

Jack:
I actually read about this at the dentist's office. It's called the male fear of death syndrome.

Tess:
[Sarcastically] Oh, that's what you got?

Jack:
That's what it feels like.

Tess:
Well, get over it.

Jack:
Look, I'm not proud of all this. But that journey that you're talking about? I just can't seem to find my way back to the road.

Tess:
You stand up, honey. And you walk. And if you ever feel like straying again, remember this moment. You can always come back to this moment.

Monica:
What difference does a name make? A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet, right?

Tess:
Yeah, but the problem is most people think more about the name than the rose.

Amelia:
Her references were impeccable, Barbara. She did all the biggest parties last year. You know the Polo Club Christmas Party? The big Charity Bazaar? Just seemed so nice too. Not the sort of person who'd just run off and leave you in the lurch while she goes somewhere to have appendicitis.

Amelia:
Has my daughter-in-law explained the situation?

Monica:
Yes, I understand that you're hosting a very large function here.

Amelia:
Functions, my dear, are held at church basements. This is an event.

Monica:
You know, I've been here two weeks and all I've had to do is to order the perfect chairs, the perfect flowers, the perfect napkins...

Tess:
Patience is a virtue. Virtue is a grace. Put them all together and they make a happy face.

Monica:
Tess, what am I doing here? The Founders Banquet is in two days. Once it's over, then what?

Tess:
I think that's what everybody in this house is asking themselves. The people in this place have nothing to look forward to except the next big party or the next disappointment. Maybe something less than their idea of perfect is exactly what this house needs.

Monica:
Don't be afraid. I'm an angel.

Harrison:
W-what does He have to say? God.

Monica:
Well, He says: "Big deal." So your name isn't Harrison Theobridge Archibald the IVth. Big deal. God loves you and He knows who you are no matter what your name is.

Harrison:
I've been living my life as a lie.

Monica:
Why? Would you have done anything different if your name had been Rohass? Would you have been any less of a person? Would you have loved Barbara less? Harrison, who you are is not your name or your family. Who you are is more essential than that. It comes from God. And what you make of yourself? That's what you give back to God.

Harrison:
Maybe God knows who I am but...

Monica:
I have something for you. [shows him a photo he took with his mother, wife and Luis] This is a family. Not people who share a name or a lineage or a background. But people who belong together because they love each other.

Barbara:
 :[looking at an old family portrait] I've never really liked that picture of the Colonel.

Amelia:
That's too bad because I got such a good deal on him at the garage sale.

[In front of a painted glass window at the top of a small church]

Tess:
People have been painting pictures and writing songs and making movies about Heaven and all ever since they could breathe. [Chuckles] They never come close.

[Monica performs a small miracle while they both watch the people going in. They observe a little girl going in singing]

Monica:
Now, Serena's music. That comes pretty close to the real thing.

Tess:
Yeah, she and Johann Sebastian have a lot in common. You give them a little glimpse of Heaven and they're off and singing. But some people, you can put Heaven right smack in front of 'em and they still can't see anything to sing about.

Tess:
There was Balthasar, there was Melchior and there was Gaspar. And the shepherds were just cowering right about here.

Edna:
[Annoyed] Is this from your imagination or from memory?

Tess:
Honey, you'd be surprised what I can remember.

Monica:
It's hard sometimes, Tess. Knowing the what but not always knowing the why. Knowing more than human beings and less than God.

Tess:
When life keeps you in the dark, baby, that's when you start looking at the stars.

Deacon:
You can't give children everything they want, Harry.

Harry:
That's right. I can't give her everything she wants. I can't give her a healthy heart. I can't give her another year to live. I can't even give her another month. But I can give her Christmas.

[After a horrible singing rehearsal]

Harry:
How'd it sound to you out there?

Monica:
Stunning. Truly joyful noise unto the Lord.

Joey:
You're gonna take him up and FLY like an angel!

[About Wayne's retarded brother, Joey]

Monica:
Joey's my friend.

Wayne:
Joey's everybody's friend. Trouble is he's nobody's responsibility except mine.

Monica:
Responsibility is a privilege. You've been entrusted with a beautiful soul who loves you, who's loyal to you, who'll never hurt you. Why won't you love Joey?

----

Wayne:
You're talking to the wrong man. I've got no faith left.

Monica:
You help Joey find his and I promise you you'll find yours.

Wayne:
[Talking about Serena to Joey] She's been a lot better friend to you than I have. She never tried to change you.

Joey:
Hey, Wayne, guess what?

Wayne:
What?

Joey:
You love me.

[Discussing a homeless man]

Monica:
So am I going to work in a shelter or counsel homeless people?

Tess:
None of the above.

Monica:
Then how am I supposed to help?

Tess:
Well, baby, the only way to share this man's pain is to share his pain.

[Pete finds a pair of shoes still in decent condition]

Pete:
My lucky day. In a manner of speaking.

Monica:
Are they going to fit?

Pete:
Size 10. Close enough.

Monica:
He's going to be fine. He's got a job, he's got a good head on his shoulders, he's got a plan to move on. I think he's going to make it.

Tess:
Is that Monica the angel saying that? Or is that Monica I'm-cold-I'm-hungry-give-me-back-my-coat saying that?

Monica:
What did I do wrong?

Tess:
You took the easy way out. Just like everybody takes the easy way out. You found a reason not to get involved... This man, Pete, he's a fighter. But he's been hit too many times. One blow after another, too hard and too fast and the next blow could put him down and keep him down. And pride is not gonna help that. Not his and not yours.

Sophie:
You know what the temperature is?

Monica:
No.

Sophie:
43 degrees. If you don't know how cold it is, you don't know how cold to be,

[At a community shelter]

Sophie:
I recognize everyone here. They're regulars. We're like one big family.

Monica:
A big family where no one speaks to each other.

Zack:
Sounds like my family.

Zack:
[About his experiences as a Marine] Nothing that happens in basic training prepares you for what war is really like, you know. We saw some bad stuff, really bad stuff. One day, you're eating sand and breathing gas and watching yourself kill people you never even met. And then the next day, you're sitting at home reading about yourself in Time magazine eating a Big Mac. It's too weird.

Sophie:
There, but for the grace of God, go I.

Pete:
You're dreaming the wrong kind of dreams, man.

Zack:
What's that supposed to mean?

Pete:
You can't waste your time dreaming about the past. You gotta stick to dreaming about the future.

Zack:
But being a Marine was the one thing I did best. I belonged to something. That's who I was.

Pete:
And what are you now?

Zack:
I don't know.

Pete:
I know. You're a guy who can't even think about next week because you're busy just trying to get through today. But thinking like that, that's what's gonna keep you on the streets. You gotta have a dream bigger than where you're gonna sleep tonight.

[About Monica's experience as a homeless person]

Tess:
What'd you ask Him for just now? Did you ask Him for food? Did you ask Him to make you warmer?

Monica:
(depressed) I asked to be remembered. I needed to know that I still mattered..

Monica:
(crying) I don't know why these things have happened to you but it's not because of anything you've done. And I have to confess that... You see, there was somewhere deep inside my heart that I thought maybe you... maybe you had done something to get here. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. It matters.

Pete:
(hesitating) I forgive you. [Monica changes back into her angelic form] My God....

Monica:
God loves you, Peter Jacob Taylor. I have failed you but He will not. He wants you to know that He is going to take you and Julie all the way to Colorado. He will walk with you all the way. But it's up to you to take the first step.

[About Sophie's husband's abusive behavior]

Sophie:
You never know what direction it's coming from, sometimes from the underpass, sometimes from the grassy knoll, sometimes they just push you out the window.

Tess:
Did you ever hear the story about the man who was afraid of the lions? Well, he was so scared he ran and he ran and he ran and he kept looking behind to see if a lion was catching up to him. And he looked over his shoulder so much, he didn't see where he was going. And one day, guess what he ran smack dab into?

Monica:
A lion.

Tess:
Any boy that studies that much is looking for answers that he cannot find in a book.

Monica:
So quiet and well-behaved. But there's something else too. A sadness.

Tess:
He's so caught up in what his father wants him to be that he hasn't had to time to find out who he really is.

Monica:
His father is so proud of him.

Tess:
Honey, there is nothing more dangerous than a man taking pride in the wrong thing.

Monica:
Matthew needs you to forgive him and he needs to know you love him not because he's the best but because he's your son.

Monica:
Secrets are such dangerous things. The closer you hold onto them, the farther away you push everyone else away to keep them safe.

Monica:
Funny, isn't it? Sometimes you have to be silent to communicate.

Tess:
Now don't you go getting all emotional on me. You can't go around crying over every job.

Monica:
[Taking tissues with a broken voice] You're a fine one to talk.

Tess:
Save one for me.