Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ; We do not even know ourselves except through Jesus read more

Not only do we not know God except through Jesus Christ; We do not even know ourselves except through Jesus Christ.

Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066 When night comes, list thy deeds; make plain the way 'Twixt heaven and thee; read more

Feast of Edward the Confessor, 1066 When night comes, list thy deeds; make plain the way 'Twixt heaven and thee; block it not with delays; But perfect all before thou sleep'st: then say: There's one sun more strung on my Bead of days. What's good, score up for joy; the bad, well scanned. Wash off with tears, and get thy Master's hand.

Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552 It is a rare campus indeed where the read more

Commemoration of Francis Xavier, Apostle of the Indies, Missionary, 1552 It is a rare campus indeed where the Christian universe of discourse is the shared basis of allegiance and the common currency of intellectual exchange. More likely, the Christian faith is an archaic facade, a bit of Victorian fretwork on the front of the house, of which polite note is made at Commencement, but not the common premise of teaching and research and learning.

Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871 Knowing God is more read more

Feast of John Coleridge Patteson, First Bishop of Melanesia, & his Companions, Martyrs, 1871 Knowing God is more than knowing about Him; it is a matter of dealing with Him as He opens up to you, and being dealt with by Him as He takes knowledge of you. Knowing about Him is a necessary precondition of trusting in Him, but the width of our knowledge about Him is no gauge of our knowledge of Him.

Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation It was not a marriage only, but a marriage read more

Feast of English Saints & Martyrs of the Reformation It was not a marriage only, but a marriage feast to which Christ conducted His disciples. Now, we cannot get over this plain fact by saying that it was a religious ceremony: that would be mere sophistry. It was an indulgence in the festivity of life; as plainly as words can describe, here was a banquet of human enjoyment. The very language of the master of the feast about men who had well drunk, tells us that there had been, not excess, of course, but happiness there, and merry-making. Neither can we explain away the lesson by saying that it is no example to us, for Christ was there to do good, and that what was safe for Him might be unsafe for us. For if His life is no pattern for us here in this case of accepting an invitation, in what can we be sure it is a pattern? Besides, He took His disciples there, and His mother was there: they were not shielded, as He was, by immaculate purity. He was there as a guest first, as Messiah only afterwards: thereby He declared the sacredness of natural enjoyments.... For Christianity does not destroy what is natural, but ennobles it. To turn water into wine, and what is common into what is holy, is indeed the glory of Christianity.

However important it may be to have a creed that is sound, or an emotion that is warm, the Christian read more

However important it may be to have a creed that is sound, or an emotion that is warm, the Christian life according to the Gospels is primarily determined by the direction of the will, the fixing of the desire, the habit of obedience, the faculty of decision. If you are determined in your purpose, if you have the will to do the Will, then with half a creed and less than half a pious ecstasy, you are at least in the line of the purpose of Jesus Christ; and as you will to do His will, may come some day to know the teaching.

Feast of John Vianney, Curè d'Ars, 1859 I love my God, but with no love of mine For I read more

Feast of John Vianney, Curè d'Ars, 1859 I love my God, but with no love of mine For I have none to give; I love Thee, Lord, but all that love is Thine, For by Thy life I live. I am as nothing, and rejoice to be Emptied and lost and swallowed up in Thee.

By afflictions, God is spoiling us [i.e., taking away from us] of what otherwise might have spoiled us. When he read more

By afflictions, God is spoiling us [i.e., taking away from us] of what otherwise might have spoiled us. When he makes the world too hot for us to hold, we let it go.

Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906 Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933 How often we look upon read more

Feast of Josephine Butler, Social Reformer, 1906 Commemoration of Apolo Kivebulaya, Priest, Evangelist, 1933 How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.