Cyprian: Jesus' example in prayer

Saturday, September 16, 2023
    Feast of Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Martyr, 258
    Commemoration of Ninian, Bishop of Galloway, Apostle to the Picts, c. 430
    Commemoration of Edward Bouverie Pusey, Priest, tractarian, 1882
Meditation:
    One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
    —Luke 6:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    If He prayed who was without sin, how much more ought sinners to pray; and if He prayed continually, watching through the whole night in uninterrupted petitions, how much more ought we to watch nightly in constantly repeated prayer!
    ... St. Cyprian (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus) (?-258), The Ante-Nicene Fathers, v. V, Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, trs., Buffalo: Christian Literature Company, 1886, p. 455 (see the book)
    See also Luke 6:12; Matt. 14:23; 26:39; Mark 1:35; 6:46; 14:35; Luke 5:16; 9:28; 22:31-32,41; John 17:1
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, draw me to prayer. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Mascall: figurative vs. literal

Friday, September 15, 2023
Meditation:
    This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
    —Matthew 1:18 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Even the most traditional theologian will be anxious to point out that the classical images which have been used, with more or less success, to depict different aspects of Redemption—the winning of a battle, the liberation of captives, the payment of a fine or a debt, the curing of a disease, and so on—are not to be interpreted literally, any more than, when we say that the eternal Word “came down from Heaven,” we are describing a process of spatial translation. For here we are dealing with processes and events which, by the nature of the case, cannot be precisely described in everyday language...
    The matter is quite different with such a statement as that Christ was born of the Virgin Mary; for, whatever aspects of the Incarnation outstrip the descriptive power of ordinary language, this at least is plainly statable in it. It means that Jesus was conceived in his mother’s womb without previous sexual intercourse on her part with any male human being, and this is a straightforward statement which is either true or false. To say that the birth... of Jesus Christ cannot simply be thought of as a biological event and to add that this is what the Virgin Birth means is a plain misuse of language; and no amount of talk about the appealing character of the “Christmas myth” can validly gloss this over.
    ... E. L. Mascall (1905-1993), The Secularization of Christianity, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1966, p. 157 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 1:18-25; Gen. 3:15; Job 14:4; Ps. 40:6-8; Luke 1:27-38; 2:19; 24:44; John 3:13; 6:38-58; Heb. 7:26
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, You have demonstrated Who You are. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Nouwen: fleeing loneliness

Thursday, September 14, 2023
    Feast of the Holy Cross
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”
    —Luke 21:34 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Our culture has become most sophisticated in the avoidance of pain, not only our physical pain but our emotional and mental pain as well. We not only bury our dead as if they were still alive, but we also bury our pains as if they were not really there. We have become so used to this state of anesthesia, that we panic when there is nothing or nobody left to distract us. When we have no project to finish, no friend to visit, no book to read, no television to watch, or no record to play, and when we are left all alone by ourselves we are brought so close to the revelation of our basic human aloneness and are so afraid of experiencing an all-pervasive sense of loneliness that we will do anything to get busy again and continue the game which makes us believe that everything is fine after all.
    ... Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996), Reaching Out, Zondervan, 1998, p. 6 (see the book)
    See also Luke 21:34; Isa. 24:9-11; 56:10-12; Matt. 4:1-2; Mark 4:18-19; John 12:4-6; Eph. 5:18; 1 Thess. 5:7-8
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, I dare to be alone with You. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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John Chrysostom: the fruits of forgiveness

Wednesday, September 13, 2023
    Feast of John Chrysostom, Bishop of Constantinople, Teacher, 407
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
    —Matthew 6:12 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Let us pardon those who have wronged us. For that which others scarcely accomplish—I mean the blotting out of their own sins by means of fasting and lamentations, and prayers, and sackcloth and ashes—this it is possible for us easily to effect without sackcloth and ashes and fasting, if only we blot out anger from our heart, and with sincerity forgive those who have wronged us.
    ... St. John Chrysostom (345?-407), in “To those who had not Attended the Assembly,” A, Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church, v. IX, New York: Christian Literature Company, 1889, p. 232 (see the book)
    See also Matt. 6:12; Ps. 32:1; Matt. 6:14-15; 18:21-22; 26:28; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:37; 17:3-5; Eph. 4:32; Col. 3:12-13
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, enable me to cast away anger. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Erasmus: charity to the undeserving

Tuesday, September 12, 2023
Meditation:
    It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
    —1 Peter 3:17 (NIV)
Quotation:
    It seems to me to be the best proof of an evangelical disposition, that persons are not angry when reproached, and have a Christian charity for those that ill deserve it.
    ... Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536), The Colloquies of Erasmus, v. II, London: Reeves & Turner, 1878, p. 298 (see the book)
    See also 1 Pet. 3:17; Pr. 22:9; Amos 5:12-15; Matt. 5:11,42; 25:34-40; Luke 6:22; 12:33-34; Rom. 12:3,13; 2 Cor. 9:6-7; Eph. 4:2; 1 Tim. 6:17-19; Heb. 13:16; 1 Pet. 4:14,16; 5:5-6; 1 John 3:17-18
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me patience in difficulty. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Buechner: the life you save

Monday, September 11, 2023
Meditation:
    [Jesus:] “Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
    —Luke 17:33 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Inspection stickers used to have printed on the back “Drive carefully—the life you save may be your own.” That is the wisdom of man in a nutshell.
    What God says, on the other hand, is “The life you save is the life you lose.” In other words, the life you clutch, hoard, guard, and play safe with is in the end a life worth little to anybody, including yourself, and only a life given away for love’s sake is a life worth living.
    ... Frederick Buechner (1926-2022), Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC, Harper & Row, 1973, revised, HarperCollins, 1993, p. 28 (see the book)
    See also Luke 17:33; Matt. 10:39; 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-36; Luke 9:24-25; 12:16-21; John 12:25; 2 Tim. 2:11-13; Jas. 4:14; Rev. 12:10-11
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, pour out my life for Your purposes. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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Law: pleasing God

Sunday, September 10, 2023
Meditation:
“Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
    fulfill your vows to the Most High,
and call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
    —Psalm 50:14-15 (NIV)
Quotation:
    We can please God in no state or employment of life, but by intending and devoting it all to His honour and glory.
    ... William Law (1686-1761), A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life [1728], London: Methuen, 1899, p. 46 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 50:14-15; 1 Sam.15:22; Pr. 21:3; Jer. 22:15-16; Hos. 6:6; John 15:8; 1 Pet. 4:11; 1 John 2:3
Quiet time reflection:
    May my actions give honor to Your name, Lord. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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