The Arrogant Delusion of Modernity

31 December 2024

Rid us, O Lord, of the arrogant delusion that our age is harder to live in, harder to live through and be decent in than any age ever was, that we are being tried as our fathers never were, that we have more excuse for our neurotic screaming, our pitiful muddling, our eroded standards, our sentimental slobbering, our pinching terror at the shadows of the future cast upon our way than any men who ever walked beneath Your heaven and on Your earth. Teach us, O Lord, by Your sane and steadying Word that we stand before You as we always stood, living of Your grace and moving toward Your judgment, that the Bomb and the terrible technological trifles of our time have not altered the great, plain, steady fact that You are Lord and nd have not changed the blessed time of Your coming as a thief in the night.

        Martin Franzmann

God With Us

30 December 2024

Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Indeed, “bread of life, staff of life.” You will come, then, as the shepherds came. You will kneel as they did in adoration. And if your vision of faith is clear enough, you will see at the Altar not merely bread and wine, but the Christ-Child, the Word made flesh. After Christmas? You will do the same as did the Wise Men. They went home by another way, not by way of Jerusalem. You will go another way, the way of the new life. And with the shepherds you will also make known abroad all that you have seen and realized. The confession—“Who for us men and for our salvation came down from Heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary and was made man,” will be more than a vague truth, more than an historical event. Christmas will be an experience. You will truly understand the truth of the angelic words: “They shall call His Name Immanuel, which is being interpreted, God with us,” aye, Immanuel—at the Altar.

        Berthold Von Schenk

On Prayer

29 December 2024

When the event you prayed for occurs your prayer has always contributed to it. When the opposite event occurs your prayer has never been ignored; it has been considered and refused, for your ultimate good and the good of the whole universe.

        C. S. Lewis

The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

28 December 2024

The darkest martyrdom must be the slaughter of the Holy Innocents. This event is not recorded outside of Matthew 2:13-18, but it certainly fits Herod’s reputation as a cruel and ruthless ruler. What senseless violence—and at Christmas! Yet, it is as nonsensical as God become man or the King born in a stable, as tragic as creatures who kill their Creator and Savior. In our world, violence and evil never take a holiday. The slaughter of babies newborn and unborn should give us pause; we, too, once dwelt in crib and womb. It could have been us! Christ sanctified all life by His conception and birth. It could have been Him; in fact, that was the whole idea.

Martyrs not of will but of deed alone, these babies died for the One who came to die for them. Their deaths bear witness to man’s cruelty and the world’s rage against Christ. Christianity isn’t all candy canes and snowflakes but life in a real world subjected to the futility of sin. Peace on earth is found only in Jesus’ blood. His death was the true martyrdom, bearing witness that our salvation is accomplished.

         “The Lutheran Witness,” December 2012

Christ Our Ransom

27 December 2024

And wonder not that the whole world was ransomed; for it was no mere man, but the only-begotten Son of God, who died on its behalf. Moreover one man's sin, even Adam's, had power to bring death to the world; but if by the trespass of the one death reigned over the world, how shall not life much rather reign by the righteousness of the One Romans 5:17-18? And if because of the tree of food they were then cast out of paradise, shall not believers now more easily enter into paradise because of the Tree of Jesus? If the first man formed out of the earth brought in universal death, shall not He who formed him out of the earth bring in eternal life, being Himself the Life? If Phinees, when he waxed zealous and slew the evil-doer, staved the wrath of God, shall not Jesus, who slew not another, but gave up Himself for a ransom 1 Timothy 2:6, put away the wrath which is against mankind?

        St. Cyril of Jerusalem

The Holy Trinity

26 December 2024

Even when the Word takes a body from Mary, the Trinity remains a Trinity, with neither increase nor decrease. It is for ever perfect. In the Trinity we acknowledge one Godhead, and thus one God, the Father of the Word, is proclaimed in the Church.

        St. Athanasius

On Love

25 December 2024

Beauty is never "necessary," "function," or "useful." And when, expectantly someone whom we love, we put a beautiful tablecloth on the table decorate with candles and flowers, we do all this not out of necessity but out of love. And the Church is love, expectation and joy.

      Alexander Schmemann

A Two-fold Coming

24 December 2024

There is a birth from God before the ages, and a birth from a virgin at the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on fleece and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.

        Cyril of Jerusalem

On the Holy Spirit

23 December 2024

The Holy Spirit turns to joy whatever He touches.

        St. Seraphim of Sarov

On Divine Works

21 December 2024

Among divine works [...] nothing can be thought of which is marvelous than this divine accomplishment that the true God, the son of God, should become true man.

        Thomas Aquinas

On Pride

20 December 2024

The proud man always lives in troubles, is always angry, always unhappy.

        St. John Chrysostom

God's Love and Presence

19 December 2024

The shepherd says: I pity the one who draws himself back from my love, and does not seek the joy of my presence, though my heart is an open wound with love for her.

        John the Cross

The Nativity

18 December 2024

In any day of the year, dearly beloved, whenever we make our meditations, we are mindful of the birth from a Virgin Mother of our Lord and Saviour. Whenever our souls are uplifted in the worship of our Maker, whether we sigh in supplication, rejoice in praise, or offer sacrifice, there is nothing which we more frequently or more confidently set our minds upon than the fact that God, the Son of God, begotten of the co-eternal Father, was also born by a human birth.

        Leo the Great

Redemption and Salvation

17 December 2024

Praise to Thee, Who hast redeemed the human race when it had perished, lifted it up Thy shoulders, and carried it into the house of Thy Father.

        St. Ephraim the Syrian

God is a Consuming Fire

16 December 2024

The divine word says that our God is a "consuming fire" and that "he draws rivers of fire before him." He even enters a "refiner's fire and as a fuller's herb" to purify his own people. But when he is said to be a " consuming fire," we inquire what are the things which are appropriate to be consumed by God. And we assert that they are wickedness, and the works which result from it.

        Origen

The New Man

15 December 2024

For unless the new man, by being made in the likeness of sinful humanity, had taken on himself the nature of our first parents, unless he had stooped to be one in substance with his mother while sharing the Father's substance and, being alone free from sin, united our nature to his, the whole human race would still be held captive under the dominion of Satan. The Conqueror's victory would have profited us nothing if the battle had been fought outside our human condition.

        Leo the Great

On Greed

14 December 2024

What then did Christ say? “How difficult it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” He was not criticizing money itself but the wills of those who are taken captive by it. If it will be difficult for the rich, how much more so for the avaricious!

        St. John Chrysostom

The Body of Christ

13 December 2024

Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has deigned to style the universal Church of God His body, and has made us individually members one of another, has moreover granted to all of us to live in intimate association with one another, as befits the agreement of the members. Wherefore, although we dwell far away from one another, yet, as regards our close conjunction, we are very near.

        St. Basil the Great

On Prayers

12 December 2024

Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you.

        J.C. Ryle

The Corporal Acts of Mercy

11 December 2024

When you receive another, you receive Him. [...] Let a hungry Christ be fed here, a thirsty Christ be given drink, a naked Christ be clothed, a foreigner Christ to be taken in, a ill Christ be visited," he said. "These are needs that arise on the journey. This is how we are to live in a world in where Christ is in need."

        Saint Augustine of Hippo

Advent

10 December 2024

Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation: the great season of Advent.  This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoiced at last to see.  This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity.  We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery.  In his infinite love for us, though we were sinners, he sent his only son to free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with the treasures of his grace, and to make us children of God and heirs of eternal life.

        Saint Charles Borromeo, bishop

On Being Human

9 December 2024

Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God. You agree? Good, then go with my blessings, but I warn you, do not expect to make many friends.

        Thomas Merton

The Two-fold Coming of Jesus Christ

8 December 2024

We preach not one coming only of Jesus Christ, but a second also, far more glorious than the first.  The first revealed the meaning of his patient endurance; the second brings with it the crown of the divine kingdom.

Generally speaking, everything that concerns our Lord Jesus Christ is twofold.  His birth is twofold: one, of God before time began; the other, of the Virgin in the fullness of time.  His descent is twofold: one, unperceived like the dew falling on the fleece; the other, before the eyes of all, is yet to happen.

In his first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in the manger.  In his second coming he is clothed with light as with a garment.  In his first coming he bore the cross, despising its shame; he will come a second time in glory accompanied by the hosts of angels.

It is not enough for us, then, to be content with his first coming; we must wait in hope of his second coming.  What we said at his first coming, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”, we shall repeat at his last coming.  Running out with the angels to meet the Master we shall cry out in adoration, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’. The Savior will come not to be judged again but to call to judgment those who called him to judgment.  He who was silent when he was first judged, will indict the malefactors who dared to perpetrate the outrage of the cross, and say, ‘These things you did and I was silent’.

He first came in the order of divine providence to teach men by gentle persuasion; but when he comes again they will, whether they wish it or not, be subjected to his kingship.

The prophet Malachi has something to say about each of these comings. ‘The Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple’.  That is the first coming.

Again, of the second coming he says, ‘And the angel of the covenant whom you seek.  Behold, the Lord almighty will come: but who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?  For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap; he will sit like a refiners and a purifier’.  Paul pointed to the two comings when he wrote to Titus, ‘The grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ’. You see how he has spoken of the first coming, for which he gives thanks, and of the second to which we look forward.

Hence it is that by the faith we profess, which has just been handed on to you, we believe in him ‘who ascended into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead; and his kingdom will have no end’.

Our Lord Jesus Christ will, then, come from heaven.  He will come in glory at the end of this world on the last day.   Then there will be an end to this world, and this created world will be made new.

        Cyril of Jerusalem

The Priest

6 December 2024

Yes, the priest stands at the altar, the priest stands there and makes a long supplication, not in order that fire from heaven may consume the things that lie to open view, but that grace, lighting on the Sacrifice, may thereby in flame the souls of all, and show them brighter than silver purified in the fire. Art thou ignorant that the soul of man could never bear this fire of the Sacrifice, but that all would be utterly consumed, were not the aid of the grace of God abundant? For if one would but consider how great a thing it is for a mortal, and one still clothed with flesh and blood, to be enabled to be nigh to that blessed and immortal nature, he would then see how great an honor the grace of the Spirit has vouchsafed to priests.

        St. John Chrysostom

Advent and the Coming(s) of the Lord

3 December 2024

There is a birth from God before the ages, and a birth from a virgin at the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on fleece, and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.

        Cyril of Jerusalem

The Advent Wreath

1 December 2024

The lighting of the Advent wreath during the Advent season is a Christian ceremony which has come down to us from about the time of Martin Luther. As before the birth of Christ the light of prophecy concerning His advent and His redemptive work became brighter and brighter, so the nearer we come in the church year to the feast of His nativity, the greater the amount of light from the Advent wreath. This ceremony is helpful for recalling, discussing, and teaching the significance of Advent.

        Paul H.D. Lang

New in Christ

30 November 2024

Let us give thanks to God the Father through His Son in the Holy Spirit, who for His great love wherewith He loves us has had mercy on us and has quickened us together with Christ even when we were dead in sins, that in Him we might be a new creature and a new handiwork.

        Pope St. Leo the Great

Holy Communion

29 November 2024

The truth is, that this doctrine, so clearly revealed in the New Testament, so clearly confessed by the Early Church, lies at the very heart of the Evangelical system - Christ is the centre of the system, and in the Supper is the centre of Christ's revelation of Himself. The glory and mystery of the incarnation combine here as they combine nowhere else. Communion with Christ is that by which we live, and the Supper is "the Communion."

        C. P. Krauth

God's Presence

28 November 2024

The shepherd says: I pity the one who draws herself back from my love, and does not seek the joy of my presence, though my heart is an open wound with love for her. After a long time, he climbed a tree, and spread his shining arms, and hung by them, and died, his heart an open wound with love.

        John of the Cross

On Bible Variety

27 November 2024

I think it is possible to say that in spite of all it's extraordinary variety, the Bible is held together by a single plot. It is one that can be simply stated: God creates the world; the world gets lost; God seeks to save the world.

        Marcus J. Borg

The Great Physician

26 November 2024

The great Physician of souls, who is the ready liberator not only of you but also of all who are enslaved by sin, is ready to heal your sickness. From Him come the words, 'Those who are well have no need of a Physician, but those who are sick...For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.' What excuse have you, what excuse has anyone, when He speaks this way? The Lord wishes to cleanse you from the trouble of your sickness and to show you light after darkness.

        St. Basil the Great

On the Baptism of Christ

25 November 2024

I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the ancient Scripture everywhere prefigured the likeness of our regeneration; not clearly manifesting its form, but foreshowing, in dark sayings, the love of God to man.

        St. Gregory of Nyssa

Lives Contrary to God’s Word

22 November 2024

When a man has fallen it is not possible for him to be raised by human power, nor can human evil be destroyed by human righteousness.  The commission of sin involves injury to God Himself, for it says, "you dishonor God by breaking the law" (Rom 2:223).  There is need of virtue greater than is found in man to be able to cancel the indictment.

        St. Nicholas Cabasilas

On Holiness

21 November 2024

Holiness consist simply in doing God’s will, and just being what God wants us to be.

        Thérèse de Lisieux

Prayers and the Holy Spirit

15 November 2024

The Holy Spirit permeates Himself into our prayers so that He covers up our ignorance and forgetfulness and asks of God that which is beneficial for us.

        Johann Gerhard

On Possessions

14 November 2024

And all the time the joke is that the word ‘Mine’ in its fully possessive sense cannot be uttered by a human being about anything. In the long run either Our Father or the Enemy will say ‘Mine’ of each thing that exists, and specially of each man. They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls, and their bodies really belong—certainly not to them, whatever happens.

        C.S. Lewis

Antidote For Original Sin

13 November 2024

Those who have been tricked into taking poison offset its harmful effect, by another drug. The remedy, moreover, just like the poison, has to enter the system, so that its remedial effect may thereby spread through the whole body. Similarly, having tasted the poison, that is the fruit, that dissolved our nature, we were necessarily, in need of something, to reunite it. Such a remedy had to enter into us, so that it might, by its counteraction, undo the harm the body had already encountered from the poison. And what is this remedy? Nothing else than the body that proved itself superior to death and became the source of our life.

        St. Gregory of Nyssa

The Body of Christ

12 November 2024

The consecrated bread is the body of Christ also when it lies on the altar or when the pastor holds it in his hand. This is the Lutheran view.

        Hermann Sasse

God's Yoke

11 November 2024

For God is a God who bears. The Son of God bore our flesh, he bore the cross, he bore our sins, thus making atonement for us. In the same way his followers are also called upon to bear, and that is precisely what it means to be a Christian. Just as Christ maintained his communion with the Father by his endurance, so his followers are to maintain their communion with Christ by their endurance. We can of course shake off the burden which is laid upon us, but only find that we have a still heavier burden to carry — a yoke of our own choosing, the yoke of our self. But Jesus invites all who travail and are heavy laden to throw off their own yoke and take his yoke upon them — and his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. The yoke and the burden of Christ are his cross. To go one’s way under the sign of the cross is not misery and desperation, but peace and refreshment for the soul, it is the highest joy. Then we do not walk under our self-made laws and burdens, but under the yoke of him who knows us and who walks under the yoke with us. Under his yoke we are certain of his nearness and communion. It is he whom the disciple finds as he lifts up his cross.

        Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The Kingdom of God

9 November 2024

The kingdom of God signifies, as we affirm, the grace that is by faith, by means of which we are accounted worthy of every blessing and of the possession of the rich gifts which come from above from God. It frees us from all blame and makes us to be the children of God, partakers of the Holy Spirit, and heirs of a heavenly inheritance.

        St. Cyril of Alexandria

God's Precepts

8 November 2024

Brothers, we say this not to cause despair, but to show how great the heavenly precept is when contrasted with the earthly impossibility of carrying it out, and how it can be implemented not by human effort but only by divine grace, with Christ Himself as the Source, since He says: "Those things that are impossible for human beings are possible for God."

        St. Peter Chrysologus

Grace

7 November 2024

The kindhearted God gives us what we ask for not because of our prayers; rather does He nourish us according to His compassion, for it is He Who created us... For who asked the Father to give His own Son up to death on the cross? Or who entreated the Son to die for sinners? To which righteous man did the thought occur to ask the Father to give up His Son for transgressors? It is truly an unprecedented event, and the thought occurred to no one. The Father gave up His Son to death on the cross, and through His death sinners obtained life. And if He gave away His greatest treasure, can there be any obstacle to prevent a man who asks such a Lover of mankind from receiving all that he needs?

        St. Ephrem the Syrian

On Suffering

6 November 2024

No matter what kind of bitterness befalls you, no matter what unpleasantness happens to you, say, 'I will endure this for Jesus Christ!' Just say this and it will be easier for you. For the name of Jesus Christ is powerful -- in His presence all unpleasant events are quelled, demons vanish, your annoyance will abate and your faintheartedness will be set at ease when you repeat his sweetest name.

        Elder Anthony of Optina

On the Baptism of Christ

5 November 2024

I find that not only do the Gospels, written after the Crucifixion, proclaim the grace of Baptism, but even before the Incarnation of our Lord, the ancient Scripture everywhere prefigured the likeness of our regeneration; not clearly manifesting its form, but foreshowing, in dark sayings, the love of God to man.

        St. Gregory of Nyssa

The Universal Church

4 November 2024

Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has deigned to style the universal Church of God His body, and has made us individually members one of another, has moreover granted to all of us to live in intimate association with one another, as befits the agreement of the members. Wherefore, although we dwell far away from one another, yet, as regards our close conjunction, we are very near.

        St. Basil the Great

Sermon for All Saints Day (Matthew 5:1-12)

3 November 2024

Calvary is for you, from Him, a gift. Blessed are those who are given to. They are “the poor in spirit” of the first Beatitude. If there is any hope of deliverance, it can only come from God. The poor in spirit wait on the Lord. As He gives, they are given to. His giving to them is not blocked or hindered by what they have crammed together and would use for bargaining. “God gives into empty hands,” says Augustine, not into hands full of what we would boast of before God. There is no room for the gifts to be given into. Sometimes, with drastic mercy, our Father empties our hands so there may be room for His gifts. Blessed are those who are given to by God. Blessed are they who receive their death as a gift from His hands. Nothing is outside His hands. Despite the pain and perplexity of any way of dying, we are never outside His hands, and within His hands and from His hands our deaths are a gift by way of which He brings us to the fullness of His promises. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

In the Gospel this word “blessed” is always in relation to Jesus. It rings with gladness. […] But happiness is often something so fleeting or shallow, and here is something from our Lord, a lively, joyful gift for all our living and all our dying. Not spoonfuls, not bucketfuls, but the “river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1). “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace” (John 1:16). You were “buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:12). You who were dead in sin God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our sins, having blotted out the charges of the Law against us. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Colossians 3:3–4).

        Norman Nagel

The Honor of the Saints

2 November 2024

The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning.

        St Bernard of Clairvaux

Vouchsafe Me

1 November 2024

Enter not into judgment with me, O our Lord, for no living creature can be justified before Thee. Thou alone, O Lord, art pure. Spare me and cleanse me of my sins by Thy grace. Vouchsafe me, O kind-hearted One, Thy great compassions, that they might make me rich and that I might receive forgiveness, and Thine angels might rejoice according to Thy word, O Thou who art kindhearted toward sinners.

        St. Ephrem the Syrian

Out of the Depths I Cry to You

31 October 2024

Out of the depths I cry to you; O Lord God, hear me calling.
Incline your ear to my distress in spite of my rebelling.
Do not regard my sinful deeds.
Send me the grace my spirit needs;
without it I am nothing.

All things you send are full of grace; you crown our lives with favor.
All our good works are done in vain without our Lord and Savior.
We praise you for the gift of faith;
you save us from the grip of death;
our lives are in your keeping.

In you alone, O God, we hope, and not in our own merit.
We rest our fears in your good word and trust your Holy Spirit.
Your promise keeps us strong and sure;
we trust the cross, your signature,
inscribed upon our temples.

My soul is waiting for you, Lord, as one who longs for morning;
no watcher waits with greater hope than I for your returning.
I hope as Israel in the Lord,
who sends redemption through the Word.
Praise God for grace and mercy!

        Martin Luther

God's Grace Suffices

30 October 2024

"It is," He says, "your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." And He Who gives things thus great and precious, and bestows the kingdom of heaven, what unwillingness can there be on His part to be kind towards us; or how will He not supply us with food and clothing? For what earthly good is equal to the kingdom of heaven? or what is worthy to be compared with those blessings, which God is about to bestow, and which neither the understanding can conceive, nor words describe?

        St. Cyril of Alexandria

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

29 October 2024

“Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum” (The Word of the Lord Endures Forever) is the motto of the Lutheran Reformation, a confident expression of the enduring power and authority of God’s Word. The motto is based on 1 Peter 1:24–25. It first appeared in the court of Frederick the Wise in 1522. He had it sewn onto the right sleeve of the court’s official clothing, which was worn by prince and servant alike. It was used by Frederick’s successors, his brother John the Steadfast, and his nephew John Frederick the Magnanimous. It became the official motto of the Smalcaldic League and was used on flags, banners, swords, and uniforms as a symbol of the unity of the Lutheran laity who struggled to defend their beliefs, communities, families, and lives against those who were intent on destroying them. It was found inscribed inside churches, over doorways, on foundation stones, even on horse’s helmets! The VDMA logo and statement has appeared throughout Lutheran churches worldwide and remains an enduring motto of the Reformation to this day.

Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions

Lutherans

27 October 2024

It is not we who call ourselves Lutherans. Rather, our adversaries call us that. We allow this to the extent that this title is an indication of the consensus that our churches have with the orthodox and catholic doctrine that Luther set forth from Holy Writ. Therefore we allow ourselves to be named after Luther, not as the inventor of a new faith but as the asserter of the old faith and the cleanser of the church from the stains of Papist dogmas. Consequently, we also do not reject the names “Christian” and “catholic,” nor do we render ourselves unworthy of it by the approval of any heretical dogma, as did the Arians. Nestorians, Eutychians, etc. Rather, we called "Christians" from Christ as the only Author and Teacher of our faith. We are called "catholics" from our consensus with the catholic faith. We are called "Lutherans" from Luther as the asserter and defender of that faith, but especially as the reformer whom God raised up.

        Johann Gerhard

On the Providence of God

26 October 2024

Therefore, do not say: “Why was John allowed to die?” For what occurred was not a death, but a crown, not an end, but the beginning of a greater life. Learn to think and live like a Christian. You will not only remain unharmed by these events, but you will reap the greatest benefit.

        St. John Chrysostom

Treatise on Good Works

25 October 2024

The first, highest, and most precious of all good works is faith in Christ, and as it says in John 6 [:28-29], when the Jews asked him, "What must we do, to be doing the good work of God?" Jesus answered, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent."  Now when we hear that or even preach it, we pass over it: we think nothing of it and think it easy to do, but actually we ought to pause a long time and think it over properly.  For in this work all good works exist, and from faith these works receive a borrowed goodness.  We must make this absolutely clear, so that men can understand it.

        Martin Luther

Folly of Idol Worship

24 October 2024

And neither do we honour with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers such deities as men have formed and set in shrines and called gods; since we see that these are soulless and dead, and have not the form of God (for we do not consider that God has such a form as some say that they imitate to His honour), but have the names and forms of those wicked demons which have appeared. For why need we tell you who already know, into what forms the craftsmen, Isaiah 44:9-20; Jeremiah 10:3. carving and cutting, casting and hammering, fashion the materials? And often out of vessels of dishonour, by merely changing the form, and making an image of the requisite shape, they make what they call a god; which we consider not only senseless, but to be even insulting to God, who, having ineffable glory and form, thus gets His name attached to things that are corruptible, and require constant service. And that the artificers of these are both intemperate, and, not to enter into particulars, are practised in every vice, you very well know; even their own girls who work along with them they corrupt. What infatuation! That dissolute men should be said to fashion and make gods for your worship, and that you should appoint such men the guardians of the temples where they are enshrined; not recognising that it is unlawful even to think or say that men are the guardians of gods.

        Justin Martyr

Sign of the Cross

23 October 2024

By the signing of the holy and life-giving cross, devils and various scourges are driven away. For it is without price and without cost and praises him who can say it. The holy fathers have, by their words, transmitted to us, and even to the unbelieving heretics, how the two raised fingers and the single hand reveal Christ our God in His dual nature but single substance. The right hand proclaims His immeasurable strength, His sitting on the right hand of the Father, and His coming down unto us from Heaven. Again, by the movement of the hands to our right the enemies of God will be driven out, as the Lord triumphs over the Devil with His inconquerable power, rendering him dismal and weak.

        Athanasius of Alexandria

On Spiritual Growth

22 October 2024

When we stop making grand promises and ask for grace to endure momentary temptations, then there is the potential for real growth. Just as evil takes its time to gain ground, holiness must also grow inch by inch.

        Lauren Myers

On Being

21 October 2024

Wherever the message is preached and brought in whatever language it comes from, the language it comes to and the culture into which it penetrates must, as some stage of its maturation, learn to answer yet again the question: “Who do you say that I am?” Because the “you say” in that question is the culture in which we live. He’s not asking, “Who does the fourth century say that I am?” when it was writing in Greek. That’s important, because without that we wouldn’t be where we are. But, at some point, you have to be who and what you are in the only culture in which you’re ever going to live, the only century in which you’re going to live and die, and, in that century, you have to answer with whatever linguistic and philosophical equipment you have, you have to answer the question: “Who do you say that I am?”

        Jaroslav Pelikan

Concepts and Wonders

20 October 2024

Concepts create idols; only wonders comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonders makes us fall to other knees.

        St. Gregory of Nyssa

The Bread of Life

18 October 2024

Break one loaf, which is the medicine of immorality, and the antidote that wards off death, but yields continuous life in union with Jesus Christ.

        St. Ignatius of Antioch

On Avaricious Individuals

17 October 2024

What then did Christ say? “How difficult it will be for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.” He was not criticizing money itself but the wills of those who are taken captive by it. If it will be difficult for the rich, how much more so for the avaricious!

        St. John Chrysostom

Earthly Possessions

16 October 2024

Teach us, O Lord, this difficult lesson to manage conscientiously the goods we possess and not covetously desire more than you give to us.

        Saint Augustine

On Being Human

15 October 2024

You are not big enough to accuse the whole age effectively, but let us say you are in dissent. You are in no position to issue commands, but you can speak words of hope. Shall this be the substance of your message? Be human in this most inhuman of ages; guard the image of man for it is the image of God. You agree? Good. Then go with my blessing. But I warn you, do not expect to make many friends.

        Thomas Merton

On Christian Dignity

14 October 2024

Be conscious, O Christian, of your dignity! You have been made partaker of the divine nature; do not fall again by a corrupt manner of life into the beggarly elements above which you are lifted.

        Leo the Great

Our Lord Said

13 October 2024

For He said not, do not hate, but love; He said not, do not injure, but do good. And if any one should examine accurately, he will see that even to these things somewhat is added, much greater than they are. For neither did He simply command to love, but to pray.

        St. John Chrysostom

Keep Our Eyes on Jesus

11 October 2024

When I read the Gospel and find there testimonies from the Law and from the Prophets, I see only Christ; I so see Moses and the Prophets and I understand them of Christ. Then when I come to the splendor of Christ Himself, and when I gaze at that glorious sunlight, I care not to look at the lamplight. For what light can a lamp give when lit in the daytime? If the sun shines out, the lamplight does not show. So, too, when Christ is present the Law and the Prophets do not show. Not that I would detract from the Law and the Prophets; rather do I praise them in that they show forth Christ. But I so read the Law and the Prophets as not to abide in them but from them to pass to Christ.

        St. Jerome

Benediction Hand Gesture

10 October 2024

When giving a blessing or benediction, the pastor’s fingers may be held in a way which approximates certain letters which abbreviate Jesus Christ. The pastor’s index finger is held straight up, approximating the Greek I; his second finger is curved for the Greek C [Σ]; his third finger is crossed with the thumb for the Greek X; and his fourth finger is curved, for another Greek C [Σ]. This therefore makes for Greek letters: ICXC. These letters are often seen on icons as two words: IC XC. In the early Greek Bibles, a common way of abbreviating an often-used word was to write only the first and last letter of the word, with a line above the abbreviation. Thus, IC abbreviates IECOUC, or actually IESOUS, since the Greek C was an early form of S. In English, of course, it’s JESUS. The Greek XC abbreviates XRICTOC, which is CHRISTOS, or in English, CHRIST. In short, ICXC is IC XC, which means JESUS CHRIST. This, the pastoral benedictions are made with the sign of the cross, while the fingers designate the One who was crucified on the cross, namely JESUS CHRIST. The blessing is therefore made with a visible sign that it is Jesus Christ the Crucified who is the source and cause of the blessing given.

        Burnell Eckardt

Faith as a Strong Foundation

9 October 2024

We know how, for the sake of the name of the Lord, trials have beset alike individuals and cities that have put their trust in Him. Nevertheless, one and all have passed away, and the distress caused by the days of darkness has not been everlasting. For just as when hail-storm and flood, and all natural calamities, at once injure and destroy things that have no strength, while they are only themselves affected by falling on the strong, so the terrible trials set in action against the Church have been proved feebler than the firm foundation of our faith in Christ.

        St. Basil the Great

On Baptism

8 October 2024

Even as when he [the priest] baptizes, not he does baptize you, but it is God that possesses your head with invisible power, and neither angel nor archangel nor any other dare draw near and touch you; even so now also. For when God begets, the gift is His only.

        St. John Chrysostom

Of the Spirit

7 October 2024

Newly created and reborn of the Spirit by the mercy of God, let us imitate what we shall one day be.

        St. Cyprian

The Beauty of Christian Marriage

6 October 2024

What kind of yoke is that of two believers who share one hope, one desire, one discipline, one service?  They enjoy kinship in spirit and in flesh.  They are mutual servants with no discrepancy of interests.  Truly they are 'two in one flesh.' Where the flesh is one, the spirit is one as well.  Together they pray, together they bow down, together perform their fasts, mutually teaching, mutually entreating, mutually upholding.  In the church of God they hold an equal place.  They stand equal at the banquet of God, equally in crises, equally facing persecutions, and equally in refreshments.

        Tertullian

The Old Man

5 October 2024

Let us then put off the old man with his deeds and having obtained a share in the sonship of Christ, let us renounce the deeds of the flesh.

        Pope St. Leo the Great

The Divine Service

4 October 2024

The majority […] don’t go to the service to be entertained. They go to use the service, or, if you prefer, to enact it. Every service is a structure of acts and words through which we receive a sacrament, or repent, or supplicate, or adore. And it enables us to do these things best—if you like, it “works” best—when through long familiarity, we don’t have to think about it. As long as you notice, and have to count, the steps, you are not yet dancing but only learning the dance. A good shoe is a shoe you don’t notice. Good reading becomes possible when you need not consciously think about your eyes, or light, or print, or spelling.  The perfect church service would be one we are almost unaware of; our attention would have been on God.

        C.S. Lewis

Mother of God

3 October 2024

At this point, my dear brothers in Christ, we have to be careful not to overlook something of great importance to our sisters in Christ; that's to say, how modestly the Virgin Mary behaved.  She'd taken the angel's word literally.  She'd given birth to the Son of the Most High.  She'd deferred to Joseph in conversation.  She could've crowed about the honors bestowed on her, but she didn't.  The humble Christ could have taught her humility but, apparently, she taught it to Him.  Mary had great reason to be proud, but she wasn't.

        St. Augustine

Keep Us, O Lord

2 October 2024

Dear God, we are thankful for guardian angels, who protect us from danger. Keep and protect us always. Never let us go to places where the holy angels cannot go with us. Let us never do or say things which Thou and the holy angels cannot be pleased. Keep us ever, Thou dear children, and finally take us to heaven; for Christ sake. Amen.

        W. A. Kramer

On the Incarnation of the Word

1 October 2024

For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God comes to our realm, howbeit he was not far from us before. For no part of Creation is left void of Him: He has filled all things everywhere, remaining present with His own Father. But He comes in condescension to show loving-kindness upon us, and to visit us.

        St. Athanasius

The Holy Spirit

30 September 2024

We affirm therefore that the fire which is sent forth by Christ is for men's salvation and profits': God grant that all our hearts may be full thereof. For the fire here is, I say, the saving message of the Gospel, and the power of its commandments; by which all of us upon earth, who were so to speak cold and dead because of sin, and in ignorance of Him Who by nature and truly is God, are kindled unto a life of piety, and made "fervent in spirit," according to the expression of the blessed Paul. And besides this we are also made partakers of the Holy Spirit, Who is as fire within us. For we have been baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit. And we have learnt the way thereto, by what Christ says to us: for listen to His words; "Verily I say unto you, that except a man be born of water and spirit, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

        St. Cyril of Alexandria

Where God's Angel Abide

29 September 2024

Let every one of you have the Holy Scripture and read from it, since these are God’s word, they teach us how to live and prepare for the future life. Pray at home daily, and on Sundays and holidays, come to church, to this holy place which is devoted to service to God, where God's angels abide and pray together with you.

        St. John Maximovich

Underserved Love

28 September 2024

We Lutherans are subject to a special temptation.  We have been so much assured that our standing with God is based entirely on God's free and undeserved love and not on any action of ours that the devil is right there to suggest:  "Well, if it not based on any action of yours, your actions don't matter.  You have a nice cushion to rest on there.  You have complete forgiveness in Christ.  So do as you please.  You are always forgiven."  There is no more hideous mockery of Christ and Calvary than that.  Christ died in our place so we may not be condemned and punished for our sins.  He takes all that for us so we may be forgiven and may know the living God as a God who graciously involves Himself with us and we with Him.  Are we, then, to make of this the basis for a life that contradicts that we are involved with Him?

        Dr. Norman Nagel

The Host of Angels

27 September 2024

Let us think of the whole host of angels, how they stand by and serve his will, for Scriptures say: "Ten thousand times ten thousand were doing service to him, and they cried out: Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth; the whole of creation is full of His glory." Then let us gather together in awareness of our concord, as with one mouth we shout earnestly to him that we may become sharers in his great and glorious promises.

        Clement of Rome

Hurricane Helene

26 September 2024

Lord of heaven and earth, You hold all things in Your hands. Once again, as a storm cause chaos and suffering for many, we humbly beseech You to have mercy. We pray with the Psalmist and all those in the storm's path, "Incline your ear to me; rescue me speedily! Be a rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me." Grant that all in Helene's path may find earthly shelter, but most of all in You, whose Son, our Savior Jesus Christ? is our recue, rock and strong fortress. Though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Mystery of Our Reconciliation

25 September 2024

Lowliness is assured by majesty, weakness by power, mortality by eternity. To pay the debt of our sinful state, a nature that was incapable of suffering was joined to one that could suffer. Thus, in keeping with the healing that we needed, one and the same mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, was able to die in one nature, and unable to die in the other.

        St. Leo the Great

Mary the Mother of God

24 September 2024

It was fitting that she, who held the creator in her lap as a baby, should rest in the tabernacle of God.

        St. John of Damascus

On Repentance

23 September 2024

For that no man on earth was righteous, Paul declared, saying, For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 And by this too the others were comforted, I mean, the guests. Why, I am so far, says He, from loathing sinners, that even for their sakes only am I come. Then, lest He should make them more careless, He staid not at the word sinners, but added, unto repentance. For I am not come that they should continue sinners, but that they should alter, and amend.

        St. John Chrysostom

The Holy Spirit

22 September 2024

When you consider creation I advise you to first think of Him who is the first cause of everything that exists; namely, the Father, and then of the Son, who is the creator, and then the Holy Spirit, the perfecter... The Originator of all things is One: He creates through the Son and perfects through the Spirit.

        St. Basil the Great

Under the New Covenant

21 September 2024

What did he mean? He here indicates baptism and forgiveness through grace. This happened not under the law, but under the new covenant. For under the law there was punishment and torture and penalty punishing those who transgressed its edicts. Under the new covenant, grace and forgiveness of wrongdoings and absolution.

        St. John Chrysostom

Turn You Home Into Heaven

20 September 2024

Where the husband, and the wife, and the children are in accord and united by the bonds of virtue, there is Christ among them.

        Saint John Chrysostom

My Love of God

19 September 2024

All I can say about my love of God is, Lord help me in my lack of it.

        Flannery O'Connor