Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945 And by 'knowledge' here [II Peter 1:2,5,8;2:20;3:18] is not to be understood a mere theoretical knowledge of the truths of Christianity, or the gnosis of the Gnostics; but a realization of these truths influencing the practice and leading to holiness of life.
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Feast of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down & Connor, Priest, Teacher, 1667 Commemoration of Florence Nightingale, Social Reformer, 1910 Commemoration read more
Feast of Jeremy Taylor, Bishop of Down & Connor, Priest, Teacher, 1667 Commemoration of Florence Nightingale, Social Reformer, 1910 Commemoration of Octavia Hill, Worker for the Poor, 1912 The kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power, the power of Godliness. Though now we are fallen upon another method, we have turned all religion into faith, and our faith is nothing but the production of interest or disputing; it is adhering to a party and a wrangling against all the world beside--and when it is asked of what religion he is, we understand the meaning to be what faction does he follow, what are the articles of his sect, not what is the manner of his life: and if men be zealous for their party and that interest, then they are precious men, though otherwise they be covetous as the grave, factious as Dathan, schismatical as Korah, or proud as the fallen angels. ... Jeremy Taylor August 14, 2000 Commemoration of Maximilian Kolbe, Franciscan Friar, Priest, Martyr, 1941 Whether God revealed Himself to the patriarchs by oracles and visions, or suggested, by means of the ministry of men, what should be handed down by tradition to their posterity, it is beyond a doubt that their minds were impressed with a firm assurance of the doctrine, so that they were persuaded and convinced that the information they had received came from God... But since we are not favored with daily oracles from heaven, and since it is only in the Scriptures that the Lord hath been pleased to preserve His truth in perpetual remembrance, it obtains the same complete credit and authority with believers, when they are satisfied of its divine origin, as if they heard the very words pronounced by God Himself... Let it be considered, then, as an undeniable truth, that they who have been inwardly taught by the Spirit feel an entire acquiescence in the Scripture, and that it is self-authenticated, carrying with it its own evidence, and ought not to be made the subject of demonstration and arguments from reason; but it obtains the credit which it deserves with us by the testimony of the Spirit.
When a man listens to the voice of the tempter within him, he is inclined to do as others do, read more
When a man listens to the voice of the tempter within him, he is inclined to do as others do, not to resist when temptation seems great. But when he looks into the laws of God, and hears the words of Christ, his natural sense of right and wrong is restored to him, and he becomes elevated, purified, and sanctified.
Be sure that it is a mistaken devotion which interferes with the duties of your natural state of life.
Be sure that it is a mistaken devotion which interferes with the duties of your natural state of life.
Continuing a short series on forgiveness: When on my day of life the night is falling, And, in read more
Continuing a short series on forgiveness: When on my day of life the night is falling, And, in the winds from unsunned spaces blown, I hear far voices out of darkness calling My feet to paths unknown, Thou who hast made my home of life so pleasant Leave not its tenant when its walls decay; O Love Divine, O Helper ever-present, Be Thou my strength and stay! Be near me when all else is from me drifting; Earth, sky, home's pictures, days of shade and shine, And kindly faces to my own uplifting The love that answers mine. I have but Thee, my Father! let Thy spirit Be with me then to comfort and uphold; No gate of pearl, no branch of palm I merit, Nor street of shining gold. Suffice it if -- my good and ill unreckoned, And both forgiven through Thy abounding grace - I find myself by hands familiar beckoned Unto my fitting place.
God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination.
Feast of the Conversion of Paul The God of Pharisaism was like the God of the Deists, He stood read more
Feast of the Conversion of Paul The God of Pharisaism was like the God of the Deists, He stood aloof from the world He had made, and let law take its course. He did not here and now deal with sinful men. Paul lets us see how new and wonderful was the experience when God "flashed on his heart" in personal dealing with him. He had not suspected that God was like that. His theological studies had told him that God was loving and merciful; but he had thought this love and mercy were expressed once and for all in the arrangements He had made for Israel's blessedness... It was a new thing to be assured by an inward experience admitting of no further question that God loved him, and that the eternal mercy was a Father's free forgiveness of His erring child. This was the experience that Christ had brought him: he had seen the splendour of God's own love in the face of "the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." [Continued tomorrow].
The purifying worth of prayer consists in the increasing contrast which it sets up between the holy God and the read more
The purifying worth of prayer consists in the increasing contrast which it sets up between the holy God and the creature; subordinating that creature's fugitive activities and desires to the standard set by this solemn apprehension of Reality.
Continuing a Lenten series on prayer: I have come to see that I do not limit my mind simply read more
Continuing a Lenten series on prayer: I have come to see that I do not limit my mind simply enough to prayer that I always want to do something myself in it, wherein I do very wrong and wish most definitely to cut off and separate my mind from all that, and to hold it with all my strength, as much as I can, to the sole regard and simple unity. By allowing the fear of being ineffectual to enter into the state of prayer, and by wishing to accomplish something myself, I spoilt it all.
Commemoration of Thomas à Kempis, priest, spiritual writer, 1471 When we are troubled with temptation and evil thoughts, read more
Commemoration of Thomas à Kempis, priest, spiritual writer, 1471 When we are troubled with temptation and evil thoughts, then we see clearly the great need we have of God, since without him we can do nothing good. No one is so good that he is immune to temptation; we will never [in this life] be entirely free of it.
