Commemoration of Martin Luther, Teacher, Reformer, 1546 Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books read more

Commemoration of Martin Luther, Teacher, Reformer, 1546 Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf in springtime.

Commemoration of Anne & Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary We cannot divide either man or the read more

Commemoration of Anne & Joachim, parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary We cannot divide either man or the universe... into two parts which move on different planes and have no vital relations; we cannot... limit the divine reaction against sin, or the experiences through which, in any case whatever, sin is brought home to man, to the purely spiritual sphere. Every sin is a sin of the indivisible human being, and the divine reaction against it expresses itself to conscience through the indivisible frame of that world, at once natural and spiritual, in which man lives. We cannot distribute evils into the two classes of physical and moral, and subsequently investigate the relation between them: if we could, it would be of no service here. What we have to understand is that when a man sins he does something in which his whole being participates, and that the reaction of God against his sin is a reaction in which he is conscious (or might be conscious) that the whole system of things is in arms against him.

What is the relation of a secular, this-worldly unification of mankind to the biblical promise of the summing up of read more

What is the relation of a secular, this-worldly unification of mankind to the biblical promise of the summing up of all things in Christ? Is it a total contradiction of it? Is it some sort of a reflection of it? or perhaps a devil's parody of it? Or has it nothing to do with it at all? Perhaps there will be many Christians to whom it would not occur to pose the question whether the process of secularization has anything to do with the biblical understanding of the goal of history. The Bible, for them, belongs to a religious world which is not admitted to belong to the world of secular events -- the world in which we are when we read the daily newspaper. But this is to read the Bible wrongly. Whatever else it may be, the Bible is a secular book dealing with the sort of events which a news editor accepts for publication in a daily newspaper; it is concerned with secular events, wars, revolutions, enslavements and liberations, migrants and refugees, famines and epidemics and all the rest. It deals with events which happened and tells a story which can be checked. We miss this because we do not sufficiently treat the Bible as a whole. When we do this, we see at once that the Bible -- whatever be the variety of material which it contains: poetry, prayers, legislation, genealogy, and all the rest -- is in its main design a universal history. It is an interpretation of human history as a whole, beginning with the saga of creation and ending with a vision of the gathering together of all the nations and the consummation of God's purpose for mankind. The Bible is an outline of world history.

Others again, perhaps truly awakened by the Spirit of God to devote themselves wholly to piety and the service of read more

Others again, perhaps truly awakened by the Spirit of God to devote themselves wholly to piety and the service of God, yet making too much haste to have the glory of saints, the elements of fallen nature -- selfishness, envy, pride, and wrath -- could secretly go along with them. For to seek for eminence and significancy in grace is but like seeking for eminence and significancy in nature. And the old man can relish glory and distinction in religion as well as in common life, and will be content to undergo as many labours, pains, and self-denials for the sake of religious, as for the sake of secular glory.

As Christ drew near to death, He Himself trembled. It was an experience of all His creation, but He had read more

As Christ drew near to death, He Himself trembled. It was an experience of all His creation, but He had never felt it. To His humanity, His assumed flesh, it seemed terrible -- Gethsemane bears witness how terrible it seemed; but He passed into it for love of us.

Blessed night, when first that plain Echoed with the joyful strain, "Peace has come to earth again!" Blessed hills, that read more

Blessed night, when first that plain Echoed with the joyful strain, "Peace has come to earth again!" Blessed hills, that heard the song Of the glorious angel-throng, Swelling all your slopes along. Happy shepherds, on whose ear Fell the tidings glad and dear, "God to man is drawing near." Happy, happy, Bethlehem, Judah's least but brightest gem, Where the rod from Jesse's stem, Scion of a princely race, Sprung in Heaven's own perfect grace, Yet in feeble lowliness. This, the woman's promised seed, Abram's mighty Son indeed; Succourer of earth's great need. This the victor in our war, This the glory see afar, This the light of Jacob's star! Happy Judah, rise and own Him the heir of David's throne David's Lord, and David's Son. Let the dayspring from on high. That arose in Judah's sky. Cover earth eternally. Babe of Bethlehem, to Thee, Infant of eternity, Everlasting glory be!

Feast of the Holy Innocents You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast read more

Feast of the Holy Innocents You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation, a rock rising above the storm.

Our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in "muchness" and "manyness," read more

Our Adversary majors in three things: noise, hurry and crowds. If he can keep us engaged in "muchness" and "manyness," he will rest satisfied.

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the read more

When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realised that the Lord doesn't work that way so I stole one and asked Him to forgive me.