We cannot find in the Old Testament the fondly drawn distinction of our latter days between the natural and the supernatural, for the whole of the natural order is so directly linked with God that its conservation must be regarded as a kind of continuous creation, quite as dependent on God's creative Word as when first the heavens and the earth were made.
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He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.
He who has learned to pray has learned the greatest secret of a holy and happy life.
Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552 As long as I see any thing to be read more
Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552 As long as I see any thing to be done for God, life is worth having; but O how vain and unworthy it is to live for any lower end!
Feast of Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167 Commemoration of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689 "The read more
Feast of Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167 Commemoration of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689 "The clergy," says Canon Rhymes, "are called to give to the laity the benefit of their theological understanding and so help them to account for and understand the faith which is in them." But surely there is no point in trying to account for faith: the moment it is accounted for rationally, it is no longer faith. Those whose hearts are filled with the Christian spirit... are best left to proclaim the Gospel in their own words and, above all, through the example of their own lives.
Anyone can believe that Jesus was a god: what is so hard to credit is that He who hung upon read more
Anyone can believe that Jesus was a god: what is so hard to credit is that He who hung upon the cross was the God. That is what you are asked as Christians to believe. And it is the sword, glittering but fearful. It must cut your life away from the standards of this world, away from its thought and its measures, no less than its aims and hopes. Hard and bitter is the separation, and you will be parted from many great and noble men, some perhaps your own teachers, who can accept about Jesus everything but the one thing needful. The Christian faith, if accepted, drives a wedge between its own adherents and the disciples of every other philosophy or religion, however lofty or soaring. And they will not see this; they will tell you that really your views and theirs are the same thing, and only differ in words, which, if only you were a little more highly trained, you would understand. Even among Christ's nominal servants there are many who think a little good-will is all that is needed to bridge the gulf -- a little amiability and mutual explanation, a more careful use of phrases, would soon accommodate Christianity to fashionable modes of speaking and thinking, and destroy all causes of provocation. So they would. But they would destroy also its one inalienable attraction: that of being... a wonder, and a beauty, and a terror -- no dull and drab system of thought, no mere symbolic idealism.
Commemoration of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095 As for the miseries and sins he heard of daily in read more
Commemoration of Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, 1095 As for the miseries and sins he heard of daily in the world, he was so far from wondering at them that, on the contrary, he was surprised that there were not more, considering the malice sinners were capable of... For his part, he prayed for them: but, knowing that God could remedy the mischiefs they did, when He pleased, he gave himself no further trouble.
Lord, come away; Why dost thou stay? Thy road is ready and thy paths made straight With longing expectations wait read more
Lord, come away; Why dost thou stay? Thy road is ready and thy paths made straight With longing expectations wait The consecration of thy beautious feet. Ride on triumphantly; behold! we lay Our lusts and proud wills in thy way. Hosannah! welcome to our hearts: Lord, here Thou hast a temple too, and full as dear As that of Sion; and as full of sin -- Nothing but thieves and robbers dwell therein; Enter and chase them forth, and cleanse the floor, Crucify them, that they may never more Profane that holy place Where thou hast chose to set thy face. And then if our still tongues shall be Mute in the praises of thy deity, The stones out of the temple wall Shall cry aloud and call Hosannah! and thy glorious footsteps greet.
Feast of Patrick, Bishop of Armagh, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c.460 Without realizing what was happening, most of us read more
Feast of Patrick, Bishop of Armagh, Missionary, Patron of Ireland, c.460 Without realizing what was happening, most of us gradually came to take for granted the premises underlying the philosophy of optimism. We proceeded to live these propositions, though we would not have stated them as blandly as I set them forth here: Man is inherently good. Individual man can carve out his own salvation with the help of education and society through progressively better government. Reality and values worth searching for lie in the material world that science is steadily teaching us to analyze, catalogue, and measure. While we do not deny the existence of inner values, we relegate them to second place. The purpose of life is happiness, [which] we define in terms of enjoyable activity, friends, and the accumulation of material objects. The pain and evil of life -- such as ignorance, poverty, selfishness, hatred, greed, lust for power -- are caused by factors in the external world; therefore, the cure lies in the reforming of human institutions and the bettering of environmental conditions. As science and technology remove poverty and lift from us the burden of physical existence, we shall automatically become finer persons, seeing for ourselves the value of living the Golden Rule. In time, the rest of the world will appreciate the demonstration that the American way of life is best. They will then seek for themselves the good life of freedom and prosperity. This will be the greatest impetus toward an end of global conflict. The way to get along with people is to beware of religious dictums and dogma. The ideal is to be a nice person and to live by the Creed of Tolerance. Thus we offend few people. We live and let live. This is the American Way.
Feast of Michael & All Angels Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray.
Feast of Michael & All Angels Pray hardest when it is hardest to pray.
It may seem absurd to some that all desires by which man is by nature affected are so completely condemned read more
It may seem absurd to some that all desires by which man is by nature affected are so completely condemned -- although they have been bestowed by God himself, the author of nature. To this I reply that we do not condemn those inclinations which God so engraved upon the character of man at his first creation, that they were eradicable only with humanity itself; but only those bold and unbridled impulses which contend against God's control.
