If your every human plan and calculation has miscarried, if, one by one, human props have been knocked out, and read more

If your every human plan and calculation has miscarried, if, one by one, human props have been knocked out, and doors have shut in your face, take heart. God is trying to get a message through to you, and the message is: "Stop depending on inadequate human resources. Let me handle the matter.".

Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 Nothing could better illustrate this authentic spirit of Christian monasticism, read more

Feast of Monica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 Nothing could better illustrate this authentic spirit of Christian monasticism, stemming from Johannite monasticism, than one of its most recent examples, Father de Foucauld. If he went out to the Ahaggar plateau, it was not only to find but also to proclaim God, thereby teaching the gospel in a way which desert people could understand. After his death, the example set by this hermit was followed by others who, far from settling in the desert places of the Sahara, set out to mingle with the peopled deserts of the great cities, there to preach the gospel by their example and their very presence.

Feast of Thomas More, Scholar & Martyr, & John Fisher, Bishop & Martyr, 1535 The redeemed in Heaven crying read more

Feast of Thomas More, Scholar & Martyr, & John Fisher, Bishop & Martyr, 1535 The redeemed in Heaven crying continually, "Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood," give, say the scriptures, an adoration which, in depth and fullness, no angel of them all can ever equal. Yet even then, we have not reached the centre. For when we worship, we are in God's presence, and it is what He says and does to us that is the all-important thing, not what we say and do toward Him. Since He is here and speaking to us, face to face, it is for us, in a hush of spirit, to listen for and to His voice, reproving counseling, encouraging, revealing His most blessed will for us; and, with diligence, to set about immediate obedience. This and this, upon which He has laid His hand, must go; and this and this to which He calls us must be at once begun. And here and now I start to it. That is the heart of worship, its very core and essence.

Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist Continuing a short series on authenticity: There, right in the read more

Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist Continuing a short series on authenticity: There, right in the middle of our lives, is that which satisfies the craving for inequality, and acts as a permanent reminder that medicine is not food. Hence a man's reaction to Monarchy is a kind of test. Monarchy can easily be "debunked"; but watch the faces, mark well the accents, of the debunkers. These are the men whose tap-root in Eden has been cut: whom no rumour of the polyphony, the dance, can reach -- men to whom pebbles laid in a row are more beautiful than an arch. Yet even if they desire mere equality, they cannot reach it. Where men are forbidden to honour a king, they honour millionaires, athletes, or film-stars instead: even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature, will be served; deny it food and it will gobble poison.

Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433 The blessed and inviting truth is that God is the most winsome read more

Commemoration of Margery Kempe, Mystic, after 1433 The blessed and inviting truth is that God is the most winsome of all beings and in our worship of Him we should find unspeakable pleasure.

Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739 There never was a pain that read more

Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739 There never was a pain that befell a man, no frustration or discouragement, however insignificant, that, transferred to God, did not affect God endlessly more than man, and was not infinitely more contrary to Him. So, if God puts up with it for the sake of some good He foresees for you, and if you are willing to suffer what God suffers, and to take what comes to you through Him, then whatever it is, it becomes divine in itself; shame becomes honor, bitterness becomes sweet, and gross darkness, clear light. Everything takes its flavor from God and becomes divine; everything that happens [reveals] God when a man's mind works that way; things all have this one taste; and therefore God is the same to this man alike in life's bitterest moments and sweetest pleasures.

No man safely goeth abroad who loveth not to rest at home. No man safely talketh but he who loveth read more

No man safely goeth abroad who loveth not to rest at home. No man safely talketh but he who loveth to hold his peace. No man safely ruleth but he who loveth to be subject. No man safely commandeth but he who loveth to obey.

The more we fear crosses, the more reason we have to think that we stand in need of them: let read more

The more we fear crosses, the more reason we have to think that we stand in need of them: let us not be discouraged when the hand of God layeth heavy ones upon us. We ought to judge of the violence of our disease by the violence of the remedies which our spiritual physician prescribes for us. It is a great argument of our wretchedness and of God's mercy, that, notwithstanding the difficulty of our recovery, He vouchsafes to undertake our cure.

Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945 And by 'knowledge' here [II Peter 1:2,5,8;2:20;3:18] is not to be read more

Commemoration of Charles Williams, Spiritual Writer, 1945 And by 'knowledge' here [II Peter 1:2,5,8;2:20;3:18] is not to be understood a mere theoretical knowledge of the truths of Christianity, or the gnosis of the Gnostics; but a realization of these truths influencing the practice and leading to holiness of life.