Bernard of Clairvaux: fasting

Saturday, November 7, 2020
    Feast of Willibrord of York, Archbishop of Utrecht, Apostle of Frisia, 739
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
    —Matthew 6:16-18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If the appetite alone hath sinned, let it alone fast, and it sufficeth. But if the other members also have sinned, why should they not fast, too? ... Let the eye fast from strange sights and from every wantonness, so that that which roamed in freedom in fault-doing may, abundantly humbled, be checked by penitence. Let the ear, blameably eager to listen, fast from tales and rumours, and from whatsoever is of idle import, and tendeth least to salvation. Let the tongue fast from slanders and murmurings, and from useless, vain, and scurrilous words, and sometimes also, in the seriousness of silence, even from things which may seem of essential import. Let the hand abstain from ... all toils which are not imperatively necessary. But also let the soul herself abstain from all evils and from acting out her own will. For without such abstinence the other things find no favour with the Lord.
    ... Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, Selections from His Letters, Meditations, Sermons, Hymns and Other Writngs, tr. Horatio Grimley, CUP Archive, n.d., p. 208-209 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:16-18; 9:14-15; 12:36-37; John 14:15; Acts 14:3; 1 Cor. 7:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, instruct me to keep my appetites in check. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Temple: influence on the world

Friday, November 6, 2020
    Feast of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher, 1944
Meditation:
    Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.
    —Matthew 12:18-21 (KJV)
Quotation:
    In an age when it is tacitly assumed that the Church is concerned only with another world than this, and in this world with nothing but individual conduct as bearing on prospects in that other world, hardly anyone reads the history of the Church in it exercise of political influence. It is assumed that the Church exercises little influence and ought to exercise none; it is further assumed that this assumption is self-evident and has always been made by reasonable men. As a matter of fact [the assumption] is entirely modern and extremely questionable.
    ... William Temple (1881-1944), Christianity and Social Order, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1942, p. 7 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 12:18-21; Isa. 60:2-3; Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:24; Luke 2:30-32; Acts 11:18; 13:46-48; Rom. 15:8-12;
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant that I should not be blind to Your acts in the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Thomas a Kempis: few bearers of His cross

Thursday, November 5, 2020
Meditation:
    Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
    But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
    —Matthew 8:21-22 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Jesus hath many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few bearers of His Cross. He hath many seekers of comfort, but few of tribulation. He findeth many companions of His table, but few of His fasting. All desire to rejoice with Him, few are willing to undergo anything for His sake. Many follow Jesus that they may eat of His loaves, but few that they may drink of the cup of His passion. Many are astonished at His miracles, few follow after the shame of His Cross. Many love Jesus so long as no adversities happen to them. Many praise Him and bless Him, so long as they receive any comforts from Him. But if Jesus hide Himself and withdraw a little while, they fall either into complaining or into too great dejection of mind.
    ... Thomas à Kempis (1380-1471), Of the Imitation of Christ [1418], Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1877, II.xi, p. 103 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 8:21-27; 16:24,25; John 16:33; Acts 14:21-22; Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help me to recognize trials, so that I might never despair. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Owen: all enter by forgiveness

Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Meditation:
    Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
    —Romans 5:20 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Poor souls are apt to think that all those whom they read of or hear of to be gone to heaven, went thither because they were so good and so holy... Yet not one of them, not any one that is now in heaven, Jesus Christ alone excepted, did ever come thither any other way but by forgiveness of sin; and that will also bring us thither, though we come short of many of them in holiness and grace.
    ... John Owen (1616-1683), An Exposition upon Psalm CXXX [1668], in Works of John Owen, v. VI, New York: R. Carter & Bros., 1851, p. 447 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 5:20; Ps. 25:11; 130:1-4; Isa. 1:18; Mic. 7:18; Matt. 9:13; Luke 23:39-43; 1 Tim. 1:15-16; Rev. 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me pardon also. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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MacInnes: identification with those served

Tuesday, November 3, 2020
    Feast of Richard Hooker, Priest, Anglican Apologist, Teacher, 1600
    Commemoration of Martin of Porres, Dominican Friar, 1639
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
    “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
    “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
    —Luke 18:10-14 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Social workers and missionaries have always been exposed to the temptation to thank God that they are not as other men, and in some ways to despise and pity those to whom they minister. In the case of those serving the refugee, ... identification with those whom they serve may and does involve them in political as well as economic problems for which there is no easy solution. Not only is there a real need for sympathy and patience in understanding the mentality of the refugee, but there must also be readiness to recognize that the injustices done are in no small degree the result of the policies of the so-called Christian nations which today are trying to stand out for social and political justice.
    ... A. C. MacInnes (1901-1977), “Social Justice,” included in Anglican Congress 1963: Report of Proceedings, Eugene Rathbone Fairweather, ed., Editorial Committee, Anglican Congress, 1963, p. 70-71 (see the book)
    See also Luke 18:10-14; Ps. 51:1-3; Jer. 2:34-35; Eze. 33:31; Rev.3:17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, guide me into humility, that I may serve. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Casteel: the class meeting

Monday, November 2, 2020
    Feast of All Souls
Meditation:
    Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
    —1 Thessalonians 5:11-13 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The genius of the Methodist movement, which enabled it to conquer the raw lives of workingmen in industrial England, and the raw lives of men and women on the American frontier, was the “class meeting”—ten members and their leader, meeting regularly for mutual encouragement, rebuke, nurture, and prayer.
    ... John L. Casteel (1903-1993/5), Spiritual Renewal through Personal Groups, NY: Association Press, 1957, p. 20 (see the book)
    See also 1 Thess. 5:11-13; Rom. 12:6-8; Eph. 4:14-15; Col. 3:16; 1 Tim. 5:1-2; 2 Tim. 4:2; Tit. 2:15; Rev. 3:19
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, increase the bond of love among the brethren. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Donne: all in one choir

Sunday, November 1, 2020
    Feast of All Saints
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
    —John 5:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    He was but a heathen that said, If God love a man, He takes him young out of this world; and they were but heathens, that observed that custom, to put on mourning when their sons were born, and to feast and triumph when they died. But thus much may we learn from these heathens, that if the dead, and we, be not upon one floor, nor under one story, yet we are under one roof. We think not a friend lost, because he has gone into another room, nor because he has gone into another land: and into another world, no man has gone; for that Heaven, which God created, and this world, is all one world... I spend none of my faith, I exercise none of my hope, in this, that I shall have my dead raised to life again.
    This is the faith that sustains me, when I lose by the death of others, or when I suffer by living in misery myself: that the dead and we are now all in one Church, and at the resurrection, shall be all in one choir.
    ... John Donne (1573-1631), Works of John Donne, vol. I, London: John W. Parker, 1839, Sermon XX, p. 401 (see the book)
    See also John 5:21; Phil. 3:10-11; 1 Thess. 4:16; Heb. 11:16,35,40
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your church is indivisible and eternal. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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