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If religion has raised us into a new world, if it has filled us with new ends of life, if it has taken possession of our hearts, and altered the whole turn of our minds, if it has changed all our ideas of things, given us a new set of hopes and fears, and taught us to live
by the realities of an invisible world — then we may humbly hope that we are true followers of Jesus, and such as may rejoice in the Day of Christ.
… William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life (What parts of Law's descriptor do you relate
to?)
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Daily Readings
Jonah 3:1-10; Psalm 51:3-4, 12-13,
18-19 Luke 11:29-32 The crowds got even bigger, and Jesus addressed them:
‘This is a wicked generation; it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. On Judgement day the Queen of the South will rise up
with the men of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and there is something greater than Solomon here. On Judgement day the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation and condemn it, because when Jonah preached they repented; and there is something greater than Jonah
here.’
Praying the Daily Gospels: A Guide to Meditation, by Philip St. Romain, 2018 (3rd ed.) Luke 11:29-32: The sign of
Jonah Jesus’ condemnation of the attitude of the crowds was intended to move them to faith. He saw that they did not really hunger for the things of God, but wanted demonstrations of supernatural power instead. The Queen of Sheba and the Ninevites were pagans who recognized the workings of God in his people and who reformed their lives accordingly. Jesus holds them out as models for
us. • What are some signs of God’s presence that are most meaningful to you? What signs must you try harder to recognize? • Pray for the grace to recognize God at work in yourself and others.
Treatise on the Love of God, by St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622) ____________ Chapter 12: Of the sovereign praise which God gives unto Himself, and how we exercise benevolence in it.
All our Saviour's human actions are of an infinite merit and value, by reason of the person who produces them, who is the same God with the Father and the Holy Ghost, yet they are not infinite by nature and essence. For as, being in a chamber, we receive not light according to the greatness of the brightness of the sun which sends it out, but according to the greatness of the window, by which it is communicated,--so our Saviour's human actions are not infinite,
though indeed they are of infinite value; for although they are the actions of a divine person, yet they are not done according to the extent of his infinity, but according to the finite greatness of his humanity by which he does them. So that, as the human actions of our sweet Saviour are infinite compared to ours, so are they only finite in comparison with the essential infinity of the divinity. They are infinite in value, estimation and dignity, as proceeding from a person who is God; yet are
they finite by nature and essence, as being done by God according to his human nature and substance, which is finite; and therefore the praises which are given by our Saviour, as he is man, not being in all respects infinite, cannot fully correspond to the infinite greatness of the divinity, to which they are directed.
Wherefore after the first ravishment of admiration which seizes us, when we meet with a praise so glorious as is that
which our Saviour renders to his Father, we fail not to recognise that the divinity is yet infinitely more deserving of praise than it can be praised, either by all creatures, or by the very humanity of the eternal Son.
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