Commemoration of Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, c.525 Who belongs to the Church? Who is my true brother? We read more

Commemoration of Brigid, Abbess of Kildare, c.525 Who belongs to the Church? Who is my true brother? We cannot always tell whether or not a man believes in Christ; but we can always ask -- Christianity is not a secret society. And if a man says he loves the Lord, why should I not treat him as my brother? If I should happen to welcome one who is only a professing Christian, who has not given his heart to Christ, what harm has it done? I will have offered the love of God to one who rejects it, and I will have given a few hours of my life to an enemy -- but our Father holds out His hands all day long to a rebellious people, and our Savior gave His life for me when I was His enemy.

Feast of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher, 604 We can have no power from Christ unless we read more

Feast of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher, 604 We can have no power from Christ unless we live in a persuasion that we have none of our own.

Christ is the Master; the Scriptures are only the servant. The true way to test all the Books is to read more

Christ is the Master; the Scriptures are only the servant. The true way to test all the Books is to see whether they work the will of Christ or not. No Book which does not preach Christ can be apostolic, though Peter or Paul were its author. And no Book which does preach Christ can fail to be apostolic, although Judas, Ananias, Pilate, or Herod were its author.

We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem small to Him who sitteth on the read more

We sometimes fear to bring our troubles to God, because they must seem small to Him who sitteth on the circle of the earth. But if they are large enough to vex and endanger our welfare, they are large enough to touch His heart of love. For love does not measure by a merchant's scales, not with a surveyor's chain. It hath a delicacy... unknown in any handling of material substance.

We feel that other churches must accept, as the pre-conditions of fellowship, such changes as will bring them into conformity read more

We feel that other churches must accept, as the pre-conditions of fellowship, such changes as will bring them into conformity with ourselves in matters which we regard as essential, and that a failure to insist on this will involve compromise in regard to what is essential to the Church's being. But for precisely the same reason, we cannot admit a demand from others for any changes in ourselves which would seem to imply a denial that we already possess the esse of the Church.

Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974 The reason that the Ten Commandments are short and clear is read more

Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974 The reason that the Ten Commandments are short and clear is that they were handed down direct, and not through several committees.

Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 Christianity is pre-eminently the religion of the heart. It does read more

Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 Christianity is pre-eminently the religion of the heart. It does not always ask words, but it always wants work. The motives and not the means are the things on which it passes judgment. And the man who shows by his life that he is not ashamed of the Gospel will assuredly one day find that the Gospel is not ashamed of him. There is much more which might be said, but I refrain. Ere I close, you will let me add my emphasis to the fact that it is in our life and conduct that we must show our devotion to Christ. The silent Gospel reaches further than the grandest rhetoric.

Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944 The paleontological evidence before us today clearly demonstrates ordered read more

Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944 The paleontological evidence before us today clearly demonstrates ordered progressive change with the successive development of new faunal and floral assemblages through the changing epochs of our earth's history. There should be no real conflict between science, which is the search for truth, and Christ's teachings, which I hold to be truth itself. It is only when scientists remove God from creation that the Christian is faced with an irreconcilable situation.

The introverted church is one which puts its own survival before its mission, its own identity above its task, its read more

The introverted church is one which puts its own survival before its mission, its own identity above its task, its internal concerns before its apostolate, its rituals before its ministry. Undue emphasis on the static structure of the Church has led to the disappearance of a significant lay ministry in denominational Protestantism.