Tag: Devotional

  • THE POWER STRUGGLE

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 16:1-50; John 21:1-25; Psalm 17:1-15 Every leader faces power struggles—from those who follow the leader and from those the leader follows. If there isn’t some sort of struggle, the leader probably isn’t doing his or her job well. It’s simple: those who make everyone happy probably aren’t pushing people to be better,…

  • AN INQUIRY ON THE PROPER THING TO DO BEFORE COMMUNION

    Imitation of Christ THE DISCIPLE WHEN I consider Your dignity, O Lord, and my own meanness, I become very much frightened and confused. For if I do not receive, I fly from Life, and if I intrude unworthily, I incur Your displeasure. What, then, shall I do, my God, my Helper and Adviser in necessity?…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Christ has grace without measure in himself, but he hath not retained it for himself. As the reservoir empties itself into the pipes, so hath Christ emptied out his grace for his people. “Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.” He seems only to have in order to dispense to us.…

  • A PSALM OF CONFIDENCE

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 15:1-41; John 20:1-31; Psalm 16:1-11 You are my Lord,” the psalmist acknowledges. “I have no good apart from you” (Psa 16:2). We know that God is everything we need, but somehow the details still get in the way. We want to alleviate our troubles through other means—that vacation, the position that will…

  • THE DIGNITY OF THE SACRAMENT AND OF THE PRIESTHOOD

    Imitation of Christ THE VOICE OF CHRIST HAD you the purity of an angel and the sanctity of St. John the Baptist, you would not be worthy to receive or administer this Sacrament. It is not because of any human meriting that a man consecrates and administers the Sacrament of Christ, and receives the Bread…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    It is a curious fact, that there is such a thing as being proud of grace. A man says, “I have great faith, I shall not fall; poor little faith may, but I never shall.” “I have fervent love,” says another, “I can stand, there is no danger of my going astray.” He who boasts…

  • NOSTALGIA: MY OLD FRIEND

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 14:1-45; John 19:17-42; Psalm 14:1-15:5 Regret and nostalgia can destroy lives. They are mirrored ideas with the same pitfalls: neither can change the past, and both keep us from living in the present. When we live wishfully rather than interacting with the present, we’re bound to miss out and hurt others. Since…

  • MANY BLESSINGS ARE GIVEN THOSE WHO RECEIVE COMMUNION WORTHILY

    Imitation of Christ THE DISCIPLE O LORD my God, favor Your servant with the blessings of Your sweetness that I may merit to approach Your magnificent Sacrament worthily and devoutly. Lift up my heart to You and take away from me this heavy indolence. Visit me with Your saving grace that I may in spirit…

  • MORNING & EVENING

    Dear reader, this little book was mainly intended for the edification of believers, but if you are yet unsaved, our heart yearns over you: and we would fain say a word which may be blessed to you. Open your Bible, and read the story of the lepers, and mark their position, which was much the…

  • CRY OUT LIKE THE PSALMIST

    Connect The TestamentsNumbers 13:1-33; John 18:25-19:16; Psalm 13:1-6 We often read the very bold psalms of the Bible without really reading them. We’re used to their cadence, their cries, and their requests. They seem appropriate in contexts where war, death, and enemies or mutinous friends were a daily reality. For that reason, these cries don’t…