St. Gregory: the necessity of good intentions

Saturday, September 3, 2022
    Feast of Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome, Teacher, 604
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
    —Matthew 6:22-23 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Many things seem to be good and yet are not, because they be not done with a good mind and intention; and therefore our Saviour saith in the Gospel, “If thy eye has naught, all thy body shall be dark.” For when the intention is wicked, all the work that follows is naught, although it seemed to be never so good.
    ... St. Gregory the Great (540?-604), The Dialogues of Saint Gregory, P. L. Warner, 1911; Arx Publishing, LLC, 2010, p. 40 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:22-23; 5:21-22,27-28; Gal. 5:22
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, purify my motives. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Beecher: but for Calvary

Friday, September 2, 2022
    Commemoration of Martyrs of Papua New Guinea, 1942
Meditation:
    When [Judas] was gone, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.”
    —John 13:31-32 (NIV)
Quotation:
    The whole earth will have dwindled, and would have gone out, were it not for one glowing spot,—Calvary. For that mountain it shall stand forever, and, glowing through all space, shine as a mighty jewel that God hath set as a memorial of his everlasting love!
    ... Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), Eyes and Ears, Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1862, p. 58 (see the book)
    See also John 13:31-32; Matt. 27:33-34; Mark 15:22-23; Luke 23:33; John 3:16-17; 12:16,23,28-32; 17:4-5; 19:17-18; Acts 3:13; Heb. 13:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have expressed Your love to the world. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Woolman: God moves the heart

Thursday, September 1, 2022
    Commemoration of Giles of Provence, Hermit, c.710
Meditation:
Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD:
    let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.
    —Psalm 40:11 (KJV)
Quotation:
    The Lord (whose tender mercies are over all his works, and whose ear is open to the cries and groans of the oppressed) is graciously moving on the hearts of people, to draw them off from the desire of wealth, and bring them into such a humble, lowly way of living, that they may see their way clearly to repair to the standard of true righteousness; and not only break the yoke of oppression, but know him to be their strength and support in a time of outward affliction.
    ... John Woolman (1720-1772), The Works of John Woolman, Philadelphia: Benjamin & Jacob Johnson, 1800, p. 198 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 40:11; Isa. 61:1-3; Hos. 11:4; John 6:44; 12:32; 2 Cor. 5:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You will lift all oppression off Your people. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bunyan: starting the day right

Wednesday, August 31, 2022
    Feast of Aidan, Bishop of Lindisfarne, Missionary, 651
    Commemoration of Cuthburga, Founding Abbess of Wimborne, c.725
    Commemoration of John Bunyan, Spiritual Writer, 1688
Meditation:
    [Jesus] will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    —1 Corinthians 1:8 (NIV)
Quotation:
    For thee, who professest the name of Christ, do thou depart from all these things; do thou make conscience of reading and practising; do thou follow after righteousness; do thou make conscience of beginning the day with God; for he that begins it not with him will hardly end it with him; he that runs from God in the morning will hardly find him at the close of the day; nor will he that begins with the world and the vanities thereof, in the first place, be very capable of walking with God all the day after. It is he that finds God in his closet that will carry the savour of him into his house, his shop, and his more open conversation.
    ... John Bunyan (1628-1688), The Whole Works of John Bunyan, v. II, London: Blackie, 1862, p. 537 (see the book)
    See also 1 Cor. 1:8; Ps. 5:3; 88:13; Matt. 6:6; Eph. 5:25-27; Phil. 2:14-16; 2 Pet. 3:14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I seek You in the morning. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Rutherford: the lost heart

Tuesday, August 30, 2022
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
    —Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Since He looked upon me, my heart is not my own. He hath run away to heaven with it.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, June 16, 1637, p. 346 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:19-21; Isa. 33:6; Luke 12:33-34; Rom. 7:5-6; Col. 3:1-3; Heb. 3:12
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, my heart is Yours. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Bounds: the center

Monday, August 29, 2022
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
    —Matthew 17:21 (NIV)
Quotation:
    God’s true preachers have been distinguished by one great feature: they were men of prayer. Differing often in many things, they have always had a common center. They may have started from different points, and traveled by different roads, but they converged to one point: they were one in prayer. God to them was the center of attraction, and prayer was the path that led to God.
    ... E. M. Bounds (1835-1913), Preacher and Prayer, Publishing House of the M. E. Church, South, Dallas, Tex., 1907, p. 41 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 17:14-21; Acts 1:14; 4:31; 20:36; Eph. 6:18; Heb. 5:7; James 5:16
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, fill my heart with the prayer that pleases You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Augustine: building the house

Sunday, August 28, 2022
    Feast of Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, Teacher, 430
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
    —Matthew 23:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If you think to build a high house of virtues, lay first a deep foundation of humility.
    ... St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430), paraphrased from Sermon XIX [Ben 69], Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament, v. I, Oxford: John Henry Parker, 1844, p. 160 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 23:12; 5:3; 7:24-27; 11:28-30; 18:4; 20:26-28; Mark 9:33-37; Luke 9:46-48; 18:10-14; John 13:14-16; Jas. 1:9-10; 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:5-6
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, remove my sinful pride. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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