Commemoration of Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373 I have held many things in my hands, and read more

Commemoration of Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373 I have held many things in my hands, and have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

Feast of Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers, 1221 The mystery revealed, in a unique degree read more

Feast of Dominic, Priest, Founder of the Order of Preachers, 1221 The mystery revealed, in a unique degree and form, in Christ's life, is really a universal spiritual human law: the law of suffering and sacrifice, as the one way to joy and possession, which has existed, though veiled till now, since the foundation of the world. ... Friedrich von Hügel August 9, 2000 Feast of Mary Sumner, Founder of the Mothers' Union, 1921 When evangelicals call the Bible "inerrant", part at least of their meaning is this: that, in exegesis and exposition of Scripture and in building up our biblical theology from the fruits of our Bible study, we may not (1) deny, disregard, or arbitrarily relativize, anything that the biblical writers teach, nor (2) discount any of the practical implications for worship and service that their teaching carries, nor (3) cut the knot of any problem of Bible harmony, factual or theological, by allowing ourselves to assume that the inspired writers were not necessarily consistent either with themselves or with each other. It is because the word "inerrant" makes these methodological points about handling the Bible, ruling out in advance the use of mental procedures that can only lead to reduced and distorted versions of Christianity, that it is so valuable and, I think, so much valued by those who embrace it.

Faith is the soul's consciousness of its Divine relationship and exalted destiny. It is the recognition by man's higher nature read more

Faith is the soul's consciousness of its Divine relationship and exalted destiny. It is the recognition by man's higher nature of sources of comfort and hope beyond anything that sense-knowledge discloses. It is the consciousness of a Divine Father toward Whom goes out all that is in affection and highest in moral aspiration; it is the premonition of a future life of which the best attainment here is but the twilight promise. In our day, the sudden and vast revelation of material wonders unsteadies and dims for the moment the spiritual sight; but the stars will shine clear again. The truth-seeking spirit and the spirit of faith, instead of being opposed, are in the deepest harmony. The man whose faith is most genuine is most willing to have its assertions tested by the severest scrutiny. And the passion for truth has underlying it a profound conviction that what is real is best; that when we get to the heart of things we shall find there what we most need. Faith is false to itself when it dreads truth, and the desire for truth is prompted by an inner voice of faith.

Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 It was not the pleasant things in the world that came read more

Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 It was not the pleasant things in the world that came from the devil, and the dreary things from God! It was "sin brought death into the world and all our woe"; as the sin vanishes the woe will vanish too. God Himself is the ever-blessed God. He dwells in the light of joy as well as of purity, and instead of becoming more like Him as we become more miserable, and as all the brightness and glory of life are extinguished, we become more like God as our blessedness becomes more complete. The great Christian graces are radiant with happiness. Faith, hope, charity, there is no sadness in them; and if penitence makes the heart sad, penitence belongs to the sinner, not to the saint.

There is in St. Paul's definite, soul-stirring assertion of the wrath of God and the reality of the judgment at read more

There is in St. Paul's definite, soul-stirring assertion of the wrath of God and the reality of the judgment at hand, a truth more profound than any that underlies our somewhat enfeebled ideas of universal benevolence and the determined progress of the race. There is something more true in his denunciation of idolatry as sin than in our denial that it is possible for a man to worship an idol, or in our suggestion that all idolatry is only a road to spiritual worship of the one true God... One day, I think, we shall return to these stern doctrines, realizing in them a truth more profound than we now know, and then we shall preach them with conviction, and, being convinced ourselves, we shall convince others.

Faith is that which, knowing the Lord's will, goes and does it; or, not knowing it, stands and waits, content read more

Faith is that which, knowing the Lord's will, goes and does it; or, not knowing it, stands and waits, content in ignorance as in knowledge, because God wills -- neither pressing into the hidden future, nor careless of the knowledge which opens the path of action.

I need not shout my faith. Thrice eloquent Are quiet trees and the green, listening sod; Hushed are the read more

I need not shout my faith. Thrice eloquent Are quiet trees and the green, listening sod; Hushed are the stars, whose power is never spent; The hills are mute: yet, how they speak of God!

Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him. In Hebrew, "Be silent in God, and let Him mould thee." Keep read more

Rest in the Lord; wait patiently for Him. In Hebrew, "Be silent in God, and let Him mould thee." Keep still, and He will mould thee to the right shape.

A teacher appears--for whom no one was prepared, and whom no one could have expected. The argument from prophecy, on read more

A teacher appears--for whom no one was prepared, and whom no one could have expected. The argument from prophecy, on which the early apologists laid so much weight, was all ex post facto. No one beforehand could have conjectured a tenth of it. But without the background of Jewish prophet and psalmist, of Jewish national history, it would be hard to understand Jesus. If prophet and historian and legislator did not in type and enigma foretell in detail the story of his life, he was none the less their heir. None the less was he their heir in that he was not in bondage to his inheritance, but... a "minister not of the letter but of the spirit", and the whole of his activity lay "in newness of spirit". Without conjecturing what he might have been on another soil or of another stock--a type of guesswork always futile in history--we have to recognize the... immense spiritual wealth that lay ready to his hand.