Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660 The greatest curse which read more

Feast of Vincent de Paul, Founder of the Congregation of the Mission (Lazarists), 1660 The greatest curse which can be entailed upon mankind is a state of war. All the atrocious crimes committed in years of peace -- all that is spent in peace by the secret corruptions or by the thoughtless extravagances of nations -- are mere trifles compared with the gigantic evils which stalk over the world in a state of war. God is forgotten in war -- every principle of Christian charity is trampled upon.

Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr, c.155 We may search so far, and reason so long of faith read more

Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, Martyr, c.155 We may search so far, and reason so long of faith and grace, as that we may lose not only them, but even our reason too, and sooner become mad than good. Not that we are bound to believe any thing against reason, that is, to believe, we know not why. It is but a slack opinion, it is not Belief, that is not grounded upon Reason. It is true, we have not a Demonstration; not such an Evidence as that one and two are three, to prove these to be Scriptures of God; God hath not proceeded in that manner, to drive our reason into a pound, and to force it by a peremptory necessity to accept these for Scriptures, for then, here had been no exercise of our Will, and our assent, if we could not have resisted.

We are separated from one another by an unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness which resists all our attempts to read more

We are separated from one another by an unbridgeable gulf of otherness and strangeness which resists all our attempts to overcome it by means of natural association or emotional or spiritual union. There is no way from one person to another. However loving and sympathetic we try to be, however sound our psychology however frank and open our behaviour we cannot penetrate the incognito of the other man, for there are no direct relationships, not even between soul and soul. Christ stands between us, and we can only get into touch with our neighbors through Him.

How did Jesus show his authority? Not by making vast claims for himself, though such claims were implicit. His authority read more

How did Jesus show his authority? Not by making vast claims for himself, though such claims were implicit. His authority seemed to reside in what he was and what he did rather than in what he specifically claimed to be. Especially in Mark's Gospel there is an elusive quality about his authority, the mystery of the hidden Messiah. His authority was at the same time most deeply hidden and most clearly expressed by his servanthood... The more the Church in its life shows forth the character of the Servant, the more will its teaching bear the marks of the authority of the Servant.

We have peace with God by the righteousness of Christ, and peace of conscience by the fruits of righteousness in read more

We have peace with God by the righteousness of Christ, and peace of conscience by the fruits of righteousness in ourselves.

Even the Bible itself is interpreted and understood in various ways, and so always becomes the center of sectarianism. Just read more

Even the Bible itself is interpreted and understood in various ways, and so always becomes the center of sectarianism. Just in the same way, dogmas and creeds cannot bring Christian unity, because human minds are not so uniformly created that they can unite in a single dogma or creed. Even our understanding of Christ Himself cannot be the basis of unity, because He is too big to be understood by any one person or group, and therefore our limited understandings do not always coincide. One emphasizes this point about Christ, another that; and this again becomes the cause of divisions. If we will only take our fellowship with Christ as the center of Christian faith, all Christians will realize their oneness... All our fellowship, however varied, is with the same Lord, and the same Saviour is our one Head.

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century What is meant by calling the writings of Moses and read more

Commemoration of Katherine of Alexandria, Martyr, 4th century What is meant by calling the writings of Moses and the Prophets [the] "Old Testament"? Do they not set forth the covenant of grace? The doctrine of justification by faith -- does not Paul in his Epistle to the Romans prove it from Genesis and from the Psalms? Where is the doctrine of substitution and the vicarious sufferings of the messiah set forth more clearly than in Leviticus and in the 53rd of Isaiah? The term "Old Testament" leads people to fancy it is an antiquated book; whereas, in many respects, it is newer than the New Testament, referring more fully to the age of glory and blessedness on the earth which is still before us.

Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788 The cause of their decline was read more

Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788 The cause of their decline was not, as has been supposed, because there is no more need for [the charismatic gifts], "because all the world had become Christian". ... The real cause was: the love of many, of almost all Christians so called, was waxed cold; ... The real cause why the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit were no longer to be found in the Christian Church [was that] the Christians were turned heathen again, and had only a dead form left.

Commemoration of Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest, teacher, 1872 The truth is that every man is in Christ; the condemnation read more

Commemoration of Frederick Denison Maurice, Priest, teacher, 1872 The truth is that every man is in Christ; the condemnation of every man is that he will not own the truth, he will not act as if it were true, that except he were joined with Christ, he could not think, breathe, live a single hour.