The intelligence which has learned to be a law to itself, criticising, rejecting, appropriating, assimilating, cannot deny its nature and read more

The intelligence which has learned to be a law to itself, criticising, rejecting, appropriating, assimilating, cannot deny its nature and suspend its functions when it opens the New Testament. It cannot make itself the slave of men, not even though the men are Peter and Paul and John; no, not even though it were the Son of Man Himself. It resents dictation, not willfully nor wantonly, but because it must; and it resents it all the more when it claims to be inspired. If, therefore, the Atonement can only be received by those who are prepared from the threshold to acknowledge the inspiration and the consequent authority of Scripture, it can never be received by modern men at all.

Feast of George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633 It's true we cannot reach Christ's forti'th day Yet to go part of read more

Feast of George Herbert, Priest, Poet, 1633 It's true we cannot reach Christ's forti'th day Yet to go part of that religious way Is better than to rest: We cannot reach our Savior's purity; Yet we are bid, 'Be holy ev'n as He': In both let's do our best. Who goeth in the way which Christ hath gone Is much more sure to meet with Him than one That traveleth by-ways; Perhaps my God, though He be far before, May turn, and take me by the hand, and more, May strengthen my decays. Yet, Lord, instruct us to improve our fast By starving sin, and taking such repast As may our faults control; That ev'ry man may revel at his door, Not in his parlor -- banquetting the poor, And among those, his soul.

Nothing could have saved the infant Church from melting away into one of those vague and ineffective schools of philosophic read more

Nothing could have saved the infant Church from melting away into one of those vague and ineffective schools of philosophic ethics except the stern and strict rule that is laid down here [Rev. 2:15, 16] by St. John. An easy-going Christianity could never have survived; only the most convinced, resolute, almost bigoted adherence to the most uncompromising interepretation of its own principles could have given the Christians the courage and self-reliance that were needed. For them to hesitate or to doubt was to be lost.

We are susceptible to heretical teachings because, in one form or another, they nurture and reflect the way that we read more

We are susceptible to heretical teachings because, in one form or another, they nurture and reflect the way that we would have it be, rather than the way God has provided, which is infinitely better for us. As they lead us into the blind alleys of self-indulgence and escape from life, heresies pander to the most unworthy tendencies of the human heart.

Feast of James the Apostle The spiritual life is a stern choice. It is not a consoling retreat from the read more

Feast of James the Apostle The spiritual life is a stern choice. It is not a consoling retreat from the difficulties of existence, but an invitation to enter fully into that difficult existence, and there apply the Charity of God, and bear the cost.

Commemoration of Maximilian Kolbe, Franciscan Friar, Priest, Martyr, 1941 Whether God revealed Himself to the patriarchs by oracles read more

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.

Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot from read more

Feast of Harriet Monsell of Clewer, Religious, 1883 There is no situation so chaotic that God cannot from that situation create something that is surpassingly good. He did it at the creation. He did it at the cross. He is doing it today.

Feast of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, Martyr, 1980 Commemoration of Paul Couturier, Priest, Ecumenist, 1953 Clear shining read more

Feast of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, Martyr, 1980 Commemoration of Paul Couturier, Priest, Ecumenist, 1953 Clear shining from God must be at the bottom of deep labouring with God. What is the reason that so many in our days set their hands to the plough, and looked back again? -- begin to serve Providence in great things, but cannot finish? -- give over in the heat of the day? They never had any such revelation of the mind of God upon their spirits, such a discovery of His excellence, as might serve for a bottom of such undertakings.

Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906 Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933 How often we look upon read more

Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906 Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933 How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.