Newman: pray for a perfect heart

Friday, June 24, 2016
    Feast of the Birth of John the Baptist
Meditation:
I will sing of mercy and judgment:
    unto thee, O LORD, will I sing.
I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way.
    O when wilt thou come unto me?
I will walk within my house
    with a perfect heart.
    —Psalm 101:1-2 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Pray Him to give you what Scripture calls “an honest and good heart,” or “a perfect heart;” and, without waiting, begin at once to obey Him with the best heart you have. Any obedience is better than none. ... You have to seek His face; obedience is the only way of seeking Him. All your duties are obediences. ... To do what He bids is to obey Him, and to obey Him is to approach Him. Every act of obedience is an approach—an approach to Him who is not far off, though He seems so, but close behind this visible screen of things which hides Him from us.
    ... John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890), Parochial Sermons, v. IV, J. G. & F. Rivington, 1839, p. 379 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 101:1-2; 24:3-4; 51:10; Eze. 36:26-27; Luke 6:45; 8:15; 11:28; John 14:15,23; 15:10; Eph. 2:8
Quiet time reflection:
    Incline my heart to obey Your commands, I pray. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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