Therese of Lisieux: 'tis Mary's part

Saturday, May 29, 2010
Meditation:
    Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
    —John 12:3 (NIV)
Quotation:
To live of love, ’tis Mary’s part to share,
    To bathe with tears and odorous perfume
Thy holy feet, to wipe them with my hair,
    To kiss them; then still loftier lot assume,—
To rise, and by Thy side to take my place,
    And pour my ointments on Thy holy head.
But with no balsams I embalm Thy Face!
        ’Tis love, instead!
    ... Thérèse of Lisieux (1873-1897), Poems of St. Teresa, Carmelite of Lisieux, Boston, Angel Guardian Press, 1907, “To Live of Love”, n. 12 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enlarge my heart so that I may love You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Denney: the unity of sin and death

Friday, May 28, 2010
    Commemoration of Lanfranc, Prior of Le Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1089
Meditation:
    Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come. But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!
    —Romans 5:14-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    What so spoke to [Paul] from the third chapter of Genesis was not a ... story of how death invaded Paradise, but the profound experience of the human race expressed in the story, an experience in which sin and death interpenetrate, and in a sense constitute each other. To us, they are what they are only in relation to each other, and when we deny the relation we see the reality of neither. This is the truth, as I apprehend it, of all we are taught, either in the Old Testament or the New, about the relation of sin and death. It is part of the greater truth that what we call the physical and spiritual worlds are ultimately one, being constituted with a view to each other; and most of the objections which are raised against it are special cases of the objections which are raised against the recognition of this ultimate unity.
    ... James Denney (1856-1917), The Atonement and the Modern Mind, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1903, p. 68 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You reign over all, in mercy and grace. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Calvin: the arrogance of withdrawal

Thursday, May 27, 2010
    Commemoration of John Calvin, renewer of the Church, 1564
Meditation:
    Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. For I tell you that Christ has become a servant of the Jews on behalf of God's truth, to confirm the promises made to the patriarchs so that the Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy, as it is written: “Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing hymns to your name.”
    —Romans 15:7-9 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Dreadful are those descriptions in which Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Habakkuk, and others, deplore the disorders of the Church of Jerusalem. There was such general and extreme corruption in the people, in the magistrates, and in the priests, that Isaiah does not hesitate to compare Jerusalem to Sodom and Gomorrah. Religion was partly despised, partly corrupted. Their manners were generally disgraced by thefts, robberies, treacheries, murders, and similar crimes. Nevertheless, the prophets on this account neither raised themselves new churches, nor built new altars for the oblation of separate sacrifices; but whatever were the characters of the people, yet because they considered that God had deposited his word among that nation, and instituted the ceremonies in which he was there worshipped, they lifted up pure hands to him even in the congregation of the impious. If they had thought that they contracted any contagion from these services, surely they would have suffered a hundred deaths rather than have permitted themselves to be dragged to them. There was nothing therefore to prevent their departure from them, but the desire of preserving the unity of the Church. But if the holy prophets were restrained by a sense of duty from forsaking the Church on account of the numerous and enormous crimes which were practised, not by a few individuals, but almost by the whole nation,—it is extreme arrogance in us, if we presume immediately to withdraw from the communion of a Church where the conduct of all the members is not compatible either with our judgment, or even with the Christian profession.
    ... John Calvin (1509-1564), The Institutes of the Christian Religion, v. II, tr. John Allen, Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work, 1921, IV.i.18, p. 239 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You alone unite Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: utterly another thing

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
    Feast of Augustine, first Archbishop of Canterbury, 605
    Commemoration of Arthur John Gossip, spiritual writer, 1954
Meditation:
    May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    —Romans 15:5-6 (NIV)
Quotation:
    [Continued from yesterday]
    The present face of Christianity makes the world a wearisome wilderness; nor should I think any thing a more necessary duty than it would be for persons of piety and ability to apologize for the religion of Jesus Christ, and to show how unconcerned it is in the ways and practices of the most that profess it, and how utterly another thing it is from what in the world it is represented to be, ... were it not that I suppose it more immediately incumbent on them and us all to do the same work in a real expression of its power and excellency, in such a kind of goodness, holiness, righteousness, and heavenliness of conversation, as the world is only as yet in secret acquainted withal. When this is done, the way for a further agreement will be open and facile; and until it be so, ... we shall have no end of our quarrels.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), “A Vindication of the Animadversions on ‘Fiat Lux’” [1664], in Works of John Owen, v. XIV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, p. 312-313 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, show Your new way of life to the world, for Your glory. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: little hope of unity

Tuesday, May 25, 2010
    Feast of the Venerable Bede, Priest, Monk of Jarrow, Historian, 735
    Commemoration of Aldhelm, Abbot of Mamsbury, Bishop of Sherborne, 709
Meditation:
    All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
    —Philippians 3:15-16 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Some pretending highly to moderation on both sides, especially among the Protestants, hope that [peace] may be attained by mutual condescension of the parties at variance, contemperation of opinions and practices unto the present distant apprehensions and interests of the chief leaders of either side: what issue and event their desires, hopes, and attempts will have, time will show to all the world. For my part, until, by a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God from on high, I see Christians in profession agreeing in pursuing the ends of Christianity, endeavouring to be followers of Jesus Christ in a conversation becoming the Gospel, without trusting to the parties wherein they are engaged, I shall have very little hopes to see any unity amongst us that shall be one jot better than our present differences. [Continued tomorrow]
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), “A Vindication of the Animadversions on ‘Fiat Lux’” [1664], in Works of John Owen, v. XIV, London: Johnson & Hunter, 1851, p. 312 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, make clear to us the truth of Your word. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Richard Massie: the role of love

Monday, May 24, 2010
    Feast of John and Charles Wesley, Priests, Poets, Teachers, 1791 & 1788
Meditation:
    And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.
    —2 John 1:5-6; (NIV)
Quotation:
LORD, who hast taught to us on earth
    This lesson from above,
That all our works are nothing worth,
    Unless they spring from love;
Send down thy Spirit from on high,
    And pour in all our hearts
That precious gift of charity,
    Which peace and joy imparts:

The healing balm, the holy oil
    Which calms the waves of strife,
The drop which sweetens every toil,
    The breath of our new life.
Without this blessed bond of peace
    God counts the living dead:
O heavenly Father, grant us this,
    Through Christ, the living Head.

Let all who love the Lord join hands
    To aid the common good,
And knit more close the sacred bands
    Of Christian brotherhood.
Make all thy pastors one, O Lord,
    In heart, in mind, in speech,
That they may set forth thy pure word,
    And live the life they preach.

Let all hold fast the truths whereby
    A church must stand or fall;
In doubtful things grant liberty,
    Show charity in all.
Thus shall we to our sacred name
    Our title clearly prove,
While even our enemies exclaim,
    ”See how these Christians love.”
    ... Richard Massie (1800-1887), A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the people called Methodists, John Wesley, London: Wesleyan Conference Office, 1876, #822, p. 744-745 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, implant in me a heart that expresses Your love for the world.

CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: the condition for freedom

Sunday, May 23, 2010
    Pentecost
    Commemoration of Petroc, Abbot of Padstow, 6th century
Meditation:
    But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
    —Romans 2 (NIV)
Quotation:
    This therefore is a certain truth, that hell and death, curse and misery, can never cease or be removed from the creation, till the will of the creature is again as it came from God, and is only a Spirit of Love that wills nothing but goodness. All the whole fallen creation, stand it never so long, must groan and travail in pain, till every contrariety to the divine will is entirely taken from every creature.
    Which is only saying, that all the powers and properties of nature, are a misery to themselves, can only work in disquiet and wrath, till the birth of the Son of God brings them under the dominion and power of the Spirit of Love.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), The Spirit of Love [1752-4], in Works of Rev. William Law, v. VIII, London: G. Moreton, 1893, p. 8 (see the book)
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, send Your Spirit of love to Your people in need. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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