Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100 When we say that the Scriptures are plain to all capacities read more

Commemoration of Clement, Bishop of Rome, Martyr, c.100 When we say that the Scriptures are plain to all capacities in all things necessary, we mean that any man of ordinary capacity, by his own diligence and care, in conjunction with the helps and advantages which God hath appointed, and in the due use of them, may attain to the knowledge of everything necessary to his salvation; and that there is no book in the world more plain and better fitted to teach a man any art or science than the Bible is to direct and instruct men in the way to heaven.

The wonder of the life of Jesus is this -- and you will find it so and you have found read more

The wonder of the life of Jesus is this -- and you will find it so and you have found it so if you have ever taken your New Testament and tried to make it the rule of your daily life -- that there is not a single action that you are called upon to do of which you need be, of which you will be, in any serious doubt for ten minutes as to what Jesus Christ, if he were here, Jesus Christ being here, would have you do under those circumstances and with the materials upon which you are called upon to act.

When Jesus takes possession of our life, it is not only that the past is forgotten and forgiven; if that read more

When Jesus takes possession of our life, it is not only that the past is forgotten and forgiven; if that were all, we might well proceed to make the same mess of life all over again; but into life there enters this new power which enables us to be what by ourselves we could never be, and to do what by ourselves we could never do. Water and the Spirit stand for the cleansing and the strengthening power of Christ, which wipes out the past and which gives us victory in the future.

Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941 Anyone can lead a "prayer-life" -- that is, the sort of read more

Feast of Evelyn Underhill, Mystical Writer, 1941 Anyone can lead a "prayer-life" -- that is, the sort of reasonable devotional life to which each is called by God. This only involves making a suitable rule and making up your mind to keep it however boring this may be.

Feast of the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy read more

Feast of the Naming & Circumcision of Jesus Lord, what a change within us one short hour Spent in Thy presence will prevail to make! What heavy burdens from our bosoms take, What parched ground refresh as with a shower! We kneel, and all around us seems to lower; We rise, and all, the distant and the near, Stands forth in sunny outline brave and clear; We kneel, how weak! we rise, how full of power! Why, therefore, should we do ourselves this wrong, Or other, that we are not always strong, That we are ever overborne with care, That we should ever weak or heratless be, Anxious or troubled, when with us is prayer, And joy and strength and courage are with Thee!

Feast of Philip & James, Apostles Come Love, come Lord, and that long day For which I languish, come away. read more

Feast of Philip & James, Apostles Come Love, come Lord, and that long day For which I languish, come away. When this dry soul those eyes shall see And drink the unseal'd source of Thee, When glory's sun faith's shades shall chase, Then for Thy veil give me Thy face.

It makes a great difference in our feelings towards others if their needs and their joys are on our lips read more

It makes a great difference in our feelings towards others if their needs and their joys are on our lips in prayer; as also it makes a vast difference in their feelings towards us if they know that we are in the habit of praying for them. There is no chasm in society that cannot be firmly and permanently bridged by intercession; there is no feud or dislike that cannot be healed by the same exercise of love.

Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660 If you wanted a read more

Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660 If you wanted a label for us, would you find a better than a Sadducean Age? We also are not worrying about immortality, hardly believe in it, or at least are not sure; we, too, have limited ourselves to this dust-speck of time, leaving unclaimed the vast inheritance beyond of which Christ told us; we, too, are putting all our zeal and passion and enthusiasm into things of this earth here, quite sure that that is the only road to progress, and that this everlasting chatter about the soul is quite beside the point. And they are all so earnest and so certain, work so hard, are animated often by such lofty motives, are so sure that there is really no manner of need for Christ: that given this, and this, and this, each of them pushing forward his particular panacea -- the world will manage very well; that to talk about Christ, and changing people's hearts, and making us new creatures, is merely to lose precious time and wander from the practical into vague day-dreaming of which nothing comes. And year by year their voices grow a little harder, and they eye Christ more and more askance, feel sourly that He is a bit of a nuisance and a stumbling-block to progress, keeping people quiet who should not be quiet, lulling them with these dim, immaterial, fantastic, spiritual hopes of His which they think have no body, and can not have. Once more the whisper grows, "Were He not far better away?" Meantime we can ignore Him, they say; and they do.

God is not disillusioned with us. He never had any illusions to begin with.

God is not disillusioned with us. He never had any illusions to begin with.