Though you may think yourself ever so dull and incapable of sublime attainments, yet by prayer the possession and enjoyment read more

Though you may think yourself ever so dull and incapable of sublime attainments, yet by prayer the possession and enjoyment of God is easily obtained; for He is more desirous to give Himself to us than we can be to receive Him.

Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552 There is a curious betrayal of the popular estimate read more

Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552 There is a curious betrayal of the popular estimate of this world and the world to come, in the honour paid to those who cast away life in battle, or sap it slowly in the pursuit of wealth or honours, and the contempt expressed for those who compromise life on behalf of souls, for which Christ died. Whenever, by exertion in any unselfish cause, health is broken or fortune impaired, or influential friends estranged, the follower of Christ is called an enthusiast, a fanatic, or even more plainly a man of unsound mind. He may be comforted by remembering that Jesus was said to be beside Himself when teaching and healing left Him not leisure even to eat.

Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461 How wonderful it is -- is it not? -- read more

Feast of Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome, 461 How wonderful it is -- is it not? -- that literally only Christianity has taught us the true place and function of suffering. The Stoics tried the hopeless little game of denying its objective reality, or of declaring it a good in itself (which it never is); and the Pessimists attempted to revel in it, as a food to their melancholy, and as something that can no more be transformed than it can be avoided or explained. But Christ came, and He did not really explain it; He did far more: He met it, willed it, transformed it; and He taught us to do all this -- or, rather, He Himself does it within us, if we do not hinder the all-healing hands.

Continuing a short series on the Bible: A man who is well-grounded in the testimonies of the Scripture read more

Continuing a short series on the Bible: A man who is well-grounded in the testimonies of the Scripture is the bulwark of the Church.

When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We read more

When we forgive evil we do not excuse it, we do not tolerate it, we do not smother it. We look the evil full in the face, call it what it is, let its horror shock and stun and enrage us, and only then do we forgive it.

Christianity is not a voice in the wilderness, but a life in the world. It is not an idea in read more

Christianity is not a voice in the wilderness, but a life in the world. It is not an idea in the air but feet on the ground going God's way. It is not an exotic to be kept under glass, but a hardy plant to bear twelve months of fruits in all kinds of weather. Fidelity to duty is its root and branch. Nothing we can say to the Lord, no calling Him by great or dear names, can take the place of the plain doing of His will. We may cry out about the beauty of eating bread with Him in His kingdom, but it is wasted breath and a rootless hope unless we plow and plant in His kingdom here and now. To remember Him at His table and to forget Him at ours, is to have invested in bad securities. There is no substitute for plain, every-day goodness.

Commemoration of Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373 Every action of our lives touches on some chord read more

Commemoration of Bridget of Sweden, Abbess of Vadstena, 1373 Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity.

Commemoration of Thomas à Kempis, priest, spiritual writer, 1471 Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge read more

Commemoration of Thomas à Kempis, priest, spiritual writer, 1471 Every man naturally desires knowledge; but what good is knowledge without fear of God? Indeed a humble rustic who serves God is better than a proud intellectual who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars.

Feast of John of the Cross, Mystic, Poet, Teacher, 1591 A Christian should always remember that the value read more

Feast of John of the Cross, Mystic, Poet, Teacher, 1591 A Christian should always remember that the value of his good works is not based on their number and excellence, but on the love of God which prompts him to do these things. St. John of the Cross December 15, 2000 Two thousand years of failure have not taught some reformers that you can't stop sin by declaring it illegal. Two thousand years have not taught them that you can't save a man's soul by force -- you can only lose your own in the attempt. Drunkenness and gambling and secularism and lechery -- various hopeful churchmen have earnestly tried to outlaw them all; and what is the result? A drunken nation, a gambling nation, a secularist nation, an adulterous nation. And, often, a ruined Church.