The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.

The ineffable joy of forgiving and being forgiven forms an ecstasy that might well arouse the envy of the gods.

Commemoration of Allen Gardiner, founder of the South American Missionary Society, 1851 Commemoration of Albert Schweitzer, Teacher, Physician, Missionary, 1965 read more

Commemoration of Allen Gardiner, founder of the South American Missionary Society, 1851 Commemoration of Albert Schweitzer, Teacher, Physician, Missionary, 1965 But first I said, ... "Some people think it is not proper for a clergyman to dance. I mean to assert my freedom from any such law. If our Lord chose to represent, in His parable of the Prodigal Son, the joy in Heaven over a repentant sinner by the figure of "music and dancing', I will hearken to Him rather than to man, be they as good as they may." For I had long thought that the way to make indifferent things bad, was for good people not to do them.

If the prophecies of the Old Testament are not rightly interpreted of Jesus our Christ, then there is no prediction read more

If the prophecies of the Old Testament are not rightly interpreted of Jesus our Christ, then there is no prediction whatever contained in it of that stupendous event, the rise and establishment of Christianity, in comparison with which all the preceding Jewish history is as nothing. With the exception of the book of Daniel, which the Jews themselves never classed among the prophecies, and an obscure text of Jeremiah, there is not a passage in all the Old Testament which favours the notion of a temporal Messiah. What moral object was there, for which such a Messiah should come? What could he have been but a sort of virtuous Napoleon?

Commemoration of Anne & Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary God is none other than the Saviour of read more

Commemoration of Anne & Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary God is none other than the Saviour of our wretchedness. So we can only know God well by knowing our iniquities... Those who have known God without knowing their wretchedness have not glorified him, but have glorified themselves.

Feast of Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179 (Peter) Waldo, a business-man in Lyons, France, in about A.D. read more

Feast of Hildegard, Abbess of Bingen, Visionary, 1179 (Peter) Waldo, a business-man in Lyons, France, in about A.D. 1170 became intensely curious as to the content of the Scriptures. But he could not read Latin, and so the Scriptures were a closed book to him. However, he hired two money-minded priests, who, in violation of strict regulations, translated the Bible for him into Provençal, the language of southern France. The content of the Word of God made such an impression upon this earnest man that he gave up his business, took upon himself a vow of poverty, and dedicated himself to the simple preaching of the contents of God's Word. The Latin of the Church only mystified its hearers [but] Waldo's humble preaching edified the souls of men. His words were not spectacular but powerful, as he pleaded with them to repent. Much of his preaching and that of his followers consisted in reciting long passages of Scripture in the vernacular. Many of them could not afford an expensive handwritten copy of the Bible, and the ecclesiastical authorities could too easily rob them of such a book; but they could not erase the words which were treasured in the heart.

Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974 Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only read more

Commemoration of Jack Winslow, Missionary, Evangelist, 1974 Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when He called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone, you are rejecting Christ's call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called.... Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called -- the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear your cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one of the great congregation of Jesus Christ. If you scorn the fellowship of the brethren, you reject the call of Jesus Christ.

Faith is not only a commitment to the promises of Christ; faith is also a commitment to the demands of read more

Faith is not only a commitment to the promises of Christ; faith is also a commitment to the demands of Christ.

Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893 If man is man and God is God, to read more

Commemoration of Phillips Brooks, Bishop of Massachusetts, spiritual writer, 1893 If man is man and God is God, to live without prayer is not merely an awful thing: it is an infinitely foolish thing.

Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433 If you believe, where are your works? Your faith is something everyone read more

Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433 If you believe, where are your works? Your faith is something everyone knows, for everyone knows that Christ was [crucified], and that everywhere men pray to Him. The whole world knows that His glory has not been spread by force and weapons, but by poor fishermen. 0 wise man, do you think the poor fishermen were not clever enough for this? Where they worked, there they made hearts better; where they could not work, there men remained bad; and therefore was the faith true and from God. The signs which the Lord had promised followed their teaching: in His name they drove out the devil; they spoke in new tongues; if they drank any deadly drink, they received therefrom no harm. Even if these wonders had not occurred, there would have been the wonder of wonders, that poor fishermen without any miracle could accomplish so great a work as the faith. It came from God, and so is Christ true, and Christ is thy God, who is in heaven and awaits thee.