Joy

Passages

Every passage tagged with this emotion in the Vela corpus. Search the body text, narrow by source or register, click through to a book’s profile to see how the passage sits with the rest of the work.

Page 207 of 299 · 20 per page

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  CHRYSOSTOM. But you will say, How does this concern me? Because thou also shalt be taken up in like manner into the clouds. For thy body is of like nature to His body, therefore shall thy body be so light, that it can pass through the air. For as is the head, so also is the body; as the beginning, so also the end. See then how thou art honoured by this beginning. Man was the lowest part of the rational creation, but the feet have been made the head, being lifted up aloft into the royal throne in their head. BEDE. When the Lord ascended into heaven, the disciples adoring Him where His feet lately stood, immediately return to Jerusalem, where they were commanded to wait for the promise of the Father; for it follows, And they worshipped him, and returned, &c. Great indeed was their joy, for they rejoice that their God and Lord after the triumph of His resurrection had also passed into the heavens. GREEK EXPOSITOR. And they were watching, praying, and fasting, because indeed they were not living in their own homes, but were abiding in the temple, expecting the grace from on high; among other things also learning from the very place piety and honesty. Hence it is said, And were continually in the temple. THEOPHYLACT. The Spirit had not yet come, and yet their conversation is spiritual. Before they were shut up; now they stand in the midst of the chief priests; distracted by no worldly object, but despising all things, they praise God continually; as it follows, Praising and blessing God. BEDE. And observe that among the four beasts in heaven, (Ezek. 1:10. Rev. 4:7) Luke is said to be represented by the calf, for by the sacrifice of a calf, they were ordered to be initiated who were chosen to the priesthood; (Exod. 29:1.) and Luke has undertaken to explain more fully than the rest the priesthood of Christ; and his Gospel, which he commenced with the ministry of the temple in the priesthood of Zacharias, he has finished with the devotion in the temple. And he has placed the Apostles there, about to be the ministers of a new priesthood, not in the blood of sacrifices, but in the praises of God and in blessing, that in the place of prayer and amidst the praises of their devotion, they might wait with prepared hearts for the promise of the Spirit. THEOPHYLACT. Whom imitating, may we ever dwell in a holy life, praising and blessing God; to Whom be glory and blessing and power, for ever and ever. Amen.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  Reply to Objection 1: The sorrow which is a vice is caused by inordinate self-love, and this is not a special vice, but a general source of the vices, as stated above ([2585]FS, Q[77], A[4]); so that it was necessary to account certain particular sorrows as special vices, because they do not arise from a special, but from a general vice. On the other hand love of God is accounted a special virtue, namely charity, to which joy must be referred, as its proper act, as stated above (here and A[2]). Reply to Objection 2: Hope proceeds from love even as joy does, but hope adds, on the part of the object, a special character, viz. “difficult,” and “possible to obtain”; for which reason it is accounted a special virtue. On the other hand joy does not add to love any special aspect, that might cause a special virtue. Reply to Objection 3: The Law prescribes joy, as being an act of charity, albeit not its first act. OF PEACE (FOUR ARTICLES)We must now consider Peace, under which head there are four points of inquiry: (1) Whether peace is the same as concord? (2) Whether all things desire peace? (3) Whether peace is an effect of charity? (4) Whether peace is a virtue? Whether peace is the same as concord?Objection 1: It would seem that peace is the same as concord. For Augustine says (De Civ. Dei xix, 13): “Peace among men is well ordered concord.” Now we are speaking here of no other peace than that of men. Therefore peace is the same as concord. Objection 2: Further, concord is union of wills. Now the nature of peace consists in such like union, for Dionysius says (Div. Nom. xi) that peace unites all, and makes them of one mind. Therefore peace is the same as concord. Objection 3: Further, things whose opposites are identical are themselves identical. Now the one same thing is opposed to concord and peace, viz. dissension; hence it is written (1 Cor. 16:33): “God is not the God of dissension but of peace.” Therefore peace is the same as concord. On the contrary, There can be concord in evil between wicked men. But “there is no peace to the wicked” (Is. 48:22). Therefore peace is not the same as concord. I answer that, Peace includes concord and adds something thereto. Hence wherever peace is, there is concord, but there is not peace, wherever there is concord, if we give peace its proper meaning.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. viii. c. 8. 56.) But they who were the friends of God, knew Him even before His presence in the body; whence Christ saith below, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day. When the Gentiles then interrupt us with the question, Why has He come in these last times to work our salvation, having neglected us so long? we reply, that He was in the world before, superintending what He had made, and was known to all who were worthy of Him; and that, if the world knew Him not, those of whom the world was not worthy knew Him. The reason follows, why the world knew Him not. The Evangelist calls those men the world, who are tied to the world, and savour of worldly things; for there is nothing that disturbs the mind so much, as this melting with the love of present things. 1:11–1311. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: 13. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. CHRYSOSTOM. (Hom. in Joan. ix. 1) When He said that the world knew Him not, he referred to the times of the old dispensation, but what follows has reference to the time of his preaching; He came unto his own. AUGUSTINE. (in Joan. Tr. i) Because all things were made by Him. THEOPHYLACT. By his own, understand either the world, or Judæa, which He had chosen for His inheritance.

• From Blue Like Jazz (2003)

  God was no longer a slot machine but something of a Spirit that had the power to move men’s souls. I seemed to have been provided answers to questions I had yet to ask, questions that God sensed or had even instilled in the lower reaches of my soul. The experience of becoming a Christian was delightful. I don’t think, however, there are many people who can stay happy for long periods of time. Joy is a temporal thing. Its brief capacity, as reference, gives it its pleasure. And so some of the magic I was feeling began to fade. It is like a man who gets a new saw for Christmas, on the first morning feeling its weight and wondering at its power, hardly thinking of it as a tool from which he will produce years of labor. Early on, I made the mistake of wanting spiritual feelings to endure and remain romantic. Like a new couple expecting to always feel in love, I operated my faith thinking God and I were going to walk around smelling flowers. When this didn’t happen, I became confused. What was more frustrating than the loss of exhilaration was the return of my struggles with sin. I had become a Christian, so why did I still struggle with lust, greed, and envy? Why did I want to get drunk at parties or cheat on tests? My best friends in high school were Dean Burkebile and Jason Holmes. Dean and Jason were both on the tennis team, and I was good enough as a practice partner, so we spent the majority of our hot Houston nights pounding the courts at the city park. We’d show up early in the afternoon and play till ten or eleven when the city shut down the lights, then we’d sit in the parking lot and drink beer, and Jason would smoke pot. Dean’s dad was a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for something like seven years. He was a handsome man, short, but he talked with a tongue swagger the way John Wayne talked in True Grit. Mr. Burkebile had amazing stories of his drinking days. He told us that he was driving drunk one night and blacked out at the wheel, steering his car directly into a parked police cruiser. I always looked up to Dean’s dad, what with his drinking stories and tattoos and that sort of thing. He worked in a hospital now and drove a black Volvo. My family had a Buick. My mother never drove drunk. My father probably did, but I hadn’t seen him in years.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  c. From being culprits we are made just, and from being foul we are made fair, by Jesus, our Redeemer. When He poured water into the basin and began to wash the feet of His disciples, He showed us how He washes our souls with His Blood, making us fair in His eyes and dear to God. It is, indeed, true: God has washed sinners in His own Blood; has made them pleasing to Himself; and has so reconciled them to Himself that He has set them as princes in His own kingdom. (4) The fourth thing to be noted about our Lord’s Blood is the countless gathering of the Redeemed. Three great armies have been redeemed by that Blood: 1, His open enemies; 2, the ancient just; 3, His doubtful friends. The first are saved from the fetters of sin; the second from Limbus; the third from doubtfulness of faith. Because of this He poured forth His Blood from three places: 1, from His hands; 2, from His feet; 3, from the wound in His side. 1. He shed the Blood from His hands for two reasons: a, to loose sinners from the chains of sin by the might of that Blood; b, having forgiven them, to bring them back to Himself. a. St. Augustin says, ‘Christ shed His Blood to take away our sins. For that by which the devil held us fast was taken away by the Blood of the Redeemer. Now, we were held fast by nothing but by the chain of our sins.’ b. He brings them back forgiven. Jesus stretched forth His hands on the Cross, and held them out dripping with Blood. Thus He broke off the fetters of the wicked; and still with a bleeding hand He draws back the sinner who is flying from Him. 2. He shed His Blood from His feet to show that He would, a, save the ancient just from Limbus; b, bring them safely to the heavenly country. a. The tree and the crookedness of the tree signify the Passion of Jesus on the wood of the Cross. There He truly treads in the wine-press, pouring forth with His feet the blood of the grape, and thus He makes many glad. Jesus, therefore, trod the wine-press for the virgin of Juda, when He shed His Blood in anguish on the Cross, and gladdened the just, who had an incorruptible faith, by bringing them from Limbus. The water that they did not have there is the heavenly bliss. b. Bringing them from Limbus, He takes them to Heaven. He did not enter Heaven alone, but had with Him a great army of the just, a victorious host whom He had brought from the grave. By the strength of His arm He had saved them.

• From Blue Like Jazz (2003)

  I seemed to have been provided answers to questions I had yet to ask, questions that God sensed or had even instilled in the lower reaches of my soul. The experience of becoming a Christian was delightful. [image "9780785263708_0073_003" file=Image00016.jpg] I don’t think, however, there are many people who can stay happy for long periods of time. Joy is a temporal thing. Its brief capacity, as reference, gives it its pleasure. And so some of the magic I was feeling began to fade. It is like a man who gets a new saw for Christmas, on the first morning feeling its weight and wondering at its power, hardly thinking of it as a tool from which he will produce years of labor. Early on, I made the mistake of wanting spiritual feelings to endure and remain romantic. Like a new couple expecting to always feel in love, I operated my faith thinking God and I were going to walk around smelling flowers. When this didn’t happen, I became confused. What was more frustrating than the loss of exhilaration was the return of my struggles with sin. I had become a Christian, so why did I still struggle with lust, greed, and envy? Why did I want to get drunk at parties or cheat on tests? [image "9780785263708_0073_007" file=Image00017.jpg] My best friends in high school were Dean Burkebile and Jason Holmes. Dean and Jason were both on the tennis team, and I was good enough as a practice partner, so we spent the majority of our hot Houston nights pounding the courts at the city park. We’d show up early in the afternoon and play till ten or eleven when the city shut down the lights, then we’d sit in the parking lot and drink beer, and Jason would smoke pot. Dean’s dad was a recovering alcoholic who had been sober for something like seven years. He was a handsome man, short, but he talked with a tongue swagger the way John Wayne talked in True Grit. Mr. Burkebile had amazing stories of his drinking days. He told us that he was driving drunk one night and blacked out at the wheel, steering his car directly into a parked police cruiser. I always looked up to Dean’s dad, what with his drinking stories and tattoos and that sort of thing. He worked in a hospital now and drove a black Volvo. My family had a Buick. My mother never drove drunk. My father probably did, but I hadn’t seen him in years. When Dean and Jason and I would sit around in the parking lot, I felt earthy and real, like a guy out of a movie. They both came from wealthy families whose lives didn’t revolve around church. I felt cool when I was with them, very sophisticated, as if I were going to play at Wimbledon the next week, sipping wine and signing autographs after the match.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  THEOPHYLACT. For they do not understand the greatness and dignity of the wisdom of Christ. But they came according to the custom of the Jews to anoint the body of Christ, that it might remain sweet-smelling, and might not burst forth into moisture, for spices have the property of drying up, and absorb the moisture of the body, so that they keep the body from corruption. GREGORY. (Hom. in Evan. 21) But if we believe on Him who is dead, and are filled with the sweet smell of virtue, and seek the Lord with the fame of good works, we come to His sepulchre with spices. There follows: And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. AUGUSTINE. (Con. Evang. iii. 24) What Luke expresses by very early in the morning, and John by early when it was yet dark, Mark must be understood to mean, when he says, very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun, that is, when the sky was growing bright in the east, as is usual in places near the rising sun; for this is the light which we call the dawning. Therefore there is no discrepancy with the report which says, while it was yet dark. For when the day is dawning, the remains of darkness lessen in proportion as the light grows brighter; and we must not take the words very early in the morning, at the rising of the sun, to mean that the sun himself was seen upon the earth, but as expressing the near approach of the sun into those parts, that is, when his rising begins to light up the sky. PSEUDO-JEROME. By very early in the morning, (Luke 24:1. diluculo Vulg.) he means what another Evangelist expresses by at the dawning. But the dawn is the time between the darkness of night, and the brightness of day, in which the salvation of man is coming forth with a happy closeness, to be declared in the Church, just as the sun, when he is rising and the light is near, sends before him the rosy dawn, that with prepared eyes she may bear to see the graciousness of his glorious brightness, when the time of our Lord’s resurrection has dawned; that then the whole Church, after the example of the women, may sing the praises of Christ, since He has quickened the race of man after the pattern of His resurrection, since He has given life, and has poured upon them the light of belief.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  AUGUSTINE. (ubi sup.) Either let us suppose that Matthew was silent about that Angel, whom they saw on entering, whilst Mark said nothing of him, whom they saw outside sitting on the stone, so that they saw two and heard severally from two, the things which the Angels said concerning Jesus; or we must understand by entering into the sepulchre, their coming within some inclosure, by which it is probable that the place was surrounded a little space before the stone, by the cutting out of which the burial place had been made, so that they saw sitting on the right hand in that space him whom Matthew designates as sitting on the stone. THEOPHYLACT. But some say the women mentioned by Matthew were different from those in Mark. But Mary Magdalene was with all parties, from her burning zeal and ardent love. SEVERIANUS. (Chrysologus ubi sup.) The women, then, entered the sepulchre, that being buried with Christ, they might rise again from the tomb with Christ. They see the young man, that is, they see the time of the Resurrection, for the Resurrection has no old age, and the period, in which man knows neither birth nor death, admits of no decay, and requires no increase. Wherefore what they saw was a young man, not an old man, nor an infant, but the age of joy. BEDE. (ubi sup.) Now they saw a young man sitting on the right side, that is, on the south part of the place where the body was laid. For the body, which was lying on its back, and had its head to the west, must have had its right to the south. GREGORY. (ubi sup.) But what is meant by the left hand, but this present life, and what by the right, but everlasting life? Because then our Redeemer had already gone through the decay of this present life, fitly did the Angel, who had come to announce His everlasting life, sit on the right hand. SEVERIANUS. (Chrysologus ubi sup.) Again, they saw a young man sitting on the right, because the Resurrection has nothing sinister in it. They also see him dressed in a long white robe; that robe is not from mortal fleece, but of living virtue, blazing with heavenly light, not of an earthly dye, as saith the Prophet, Thou deckest thyself with light as with a garment; and of the just it is said, Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun. (Ps. 104:2) (Matt. 13:43) GREGORY. (ubi sup.) Or else, he appeared covered with a white robe, because he announced the joys of our festivity, for the whiteness of the robe shews the splendour of our solemnity.

• From New Testament Words (1964)

  The temptations, the impulses and the passions of life can make a man forget the Christian message as soon as he has heard it. The activities, the cares and the pleasures of life can take up so much of a man’s life and time that the Christian message is choked out of his life because there is no room left for it to breathe. (iii) The logos can be corrupted and adulterated (II Cor. 2.17; 4.2). Whenever a man begins to listen to himself and stops listening to God, his version of the Christian message will be distorted and inadequate. Whenever he forgets to test his ideas and conceptions by the Word and the Spirit of God, he will produce a version of the Christian message which is his and not God’s. If he goes on doing that he may well end by loving his own little system better than he loves God’s truth. (iv) The logos can be rendered ineffective (Mark 7.13). It is fatally easy to explain the Christian message away, to overlay it with human interpretations, to complicate its simplicities with conditions and reservations and explanations. Whenever we regard the Christian message as something with which to make terms rather than something to which to surrender we are in danger of making it ineffective. Without ‘yieldedness’ to the message the message cannot have its full effect. When we begin to examine the NT content of the Christian message, we begin to appreciate, as never before, the riches of this faith which is offered to us. The word logos is used in the NT with at least seven different genitives which express that in which the message consists. Let us look at them. (i) The Christian message is a word of good news (Acts 15.7). It brings to us tidings about God which set the heart singing for joy. The discovery of love is always the greatest day in a man’s life; and the Christian message leads a man to discover nothing less than the love of God. (ii) The Christian message is a word of truth (John 17.7; Eph. 1.13; James 1.8). The whole of life is the search for truth. ‘What is truth?’ said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer. That may be so, but life is intolerable if there are no fixed stars in it. The Christian message is that which makes a man sure. (iii) The Christian message is a word of life (Phil. 2.16). The Christian message is that which enables a man to stop existing and to begin living. It gives him life with a capital L. (iv) The Christian message is a word of righteousness (Heb. 5.13).

• From New Testament Words (1964)

  They were eager rather to show their own greatness than the greatness of Christ. Long ago Denney bitingly said that no preacher can show at one and the same time that he is clever and that Christ is wonderful. It was characteristic in Paul of the works of the flesh and in James of the earthly and sensual wisdom. It is the characteristic of the man who applies earthly and human standards to everything, and who assesses things by the measuring rod of personal prestige and personal success. It is an illuminating light on human nature that the word which began by describing the work that a man does for an honest day’s pay came in the end to describe the work which is done for pay and pay alone. It is a warning to our own generation, for most of our troubles today are not basically economic troubles; they spring rather from the spirit which asks, always, What can I get out of life? and, never, What can I put into life? EUAGGELION THE GOOD NEWS The word euaggelion means ‘gospel’ or ‘good news’, and when we come to study it we are of necessity at the very heart and centre of the Christian faith. The word euaggelion is so specifically and characteristically a Christian word that it has not a long history outside the NT. In classical Greek it has three meanings. (i) Originally it meant ‘the reward given to a messenger for bringing good tidings’. It is so used in the Septuagint in II Sam. 4.10. (ii) It went on to mean ‘the sacrifices made to the gods when such good tidings were received’. (iii) Not in classical Greek at all, but in late Hellenistic Greek it comes to mean ‘the good tidings themselves’. In the Septuagint it is used for the good tidings of victory’ (I Sam. 31.9), the good tidings of ‘the birth of a child’ (Jer. 20.15), and sometimes simply of tidings of any kind. In the Septuagint it has two usages which are faint foretastes of its NT use. (i) In the Psalms the corresponding verb is used of telling forth the righteousness and the saving power of God (Ps. 40.10; 96.2). (ii) In Isaiah it is used of the glad tidings of the coming of God’s anointed one to his people (Isa. 40.9; 52.7). In the papyri both noun and verb are very rare. The verb (euaggelizesthai) is used of a slave coming with news of a general’s victory, and the noun (euaggelion) is used in an inscription which says that the birthday of the Roman Emperor Augustus was the beginning of good tidings for the world. But it is when we come to the NT that euaggelion becomes a tremendous word. (i) It is the word which is the summation of the whole Christian message (Mark 1.1; I Cor. 15.1). The Kingdom which Jesus preached is ‘good news’ (Matt.

• From New Testament Words (1964)

  As the soldier must battle towards final victory, so the Christian must dauntlessly and tirelessly face the struggle of goodness. (iii) This gift and this struggle combined bring three things, (a) Eusebeia brings trouble. The man who will live for Christ must expect to receive persecution (II Tim. 3.12). To be different from the world, to have a different set of standards and a different set of aims, is always a perilous thing. It is not peace but glory that Christ offers us. (b) Eusebeia brings power. It was holiness and power combined that the Jerusalem crowds saw in Peter and John (Acts 3.12). Christ never sends a man a task without also sending him the power to do it. In a world of collapse the Christian alone has the power to stand foursquare against the assaults of all that time can do. (c) Eusebeia brings God. For the true worshipper of God the way is ever open to God (John 9.31). In every time of trial the Christian can retire to the presence of God to emerge with a power that is not his own power. The Christian has continual access to and contact with the power of the Eternal. (iv) Eusebeia is the mark of the Christian life. The aim of the Christian, and the duty of the Christian, is to live with godliness and honesty (I Tim. 2.2). ‘A saint’, as someone has said, ‘is someone who makes it easier to believe in God.’ Even within the world something of heaven’s grace and glory cling to the life of the Christian. He too brings God to men. (v) Eusebeia is the origin of all true theology and of all true thinking (I Tim. 6.3; Titus 1.1). One of the great neglected truths of the Christian life is that inspiration and revelation are morally conditioned. God can only tell a man what that man is capable of receiving and understanding. The closer a man lives to God, the more God can say to him. The great thinker must first of all be a good man. To learn about God we must first of all obey God. It may well be true that the man who says that he cannot understand the Christian faith does not want to understand it, and may even be afraid to understand it. (vi) Eusebeia must never be confounded with material prosperity. The man who sees in his religion, or who uses his religion as, the way to material success has a debased view of what religion is (I Tim. 6.5). But true religion is the way to the real profit and the real joy in this world and in the world to come (I Tim. 4.8). The essence of this matter lies in the basic truth that true happiness never results from the possession of things. It is not in things to give either satisfaction or peace. True happiness lies entirely in personal relationships. If a man has love he has everything.

• From Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family (1901)

  Erika cheered at every crow that flew up, and Ida Jungmann, who, as always in the safest weather, was wearing a long, open raincoat and umbrella, agreed as a real nanny, who not only responds to the child's moods externally, but also feels them like a child, with her unabashed and somewhat whinnying laughter, so that Gerda, who had not seen her grow gray in the family, repeatedly looked at her in a somewhat cold and astonished way... One was in Oldenburg. Beech forests came into view, the car drove through the village, across the market square with its draw well, got outside again, rolled over the bridge that leads over the little river Au and finally stopped in front of the one-storey inn "Zum Riesesebusch". This was situated on one side of a flat square with grassy plains, sandy paths and country beds, and beyond this square the forest rose amphitheatrically. The individual steps were connected by rough staircases, for which high tree roots and protruding rocks had been used, and on the floors, between the trees, were set up white-painted tables, benches and chairs. Buddenbrooks were by no means the first guests. A couple of well-fed maids and even a waiter in a greasy tailcoat hurriedly marched across the square and carried cold dishes, lemonades, milk and beer up to the tables, where several families with children had already taken their seats, albeit some distance apart. Herr Dieckmann, the innkeeper, in a yellow embroidered cap and shirt sleeves, went to the door himself to help the gentlemen get out, and while Longuet drove aside to relax, the Consul said: "So we're going to go for a walk first, sir Man, and then after an hour or an hour and a half they want to have breakfast. Please, let's serve over there... but not too high; on the second paragraph methinks..." "Make an effort, Dieckmann," added the Consul. "We have a spoiled guest..." Herr Permaneder protested. »I can't tell! A beer and a kaas...” But Mr. Dieckmann did not understand that, but began with great fluency: "Anything that's there, Mr. Kunsel ... crayfish, shrimp, various sausages, various cheeses, smoked eel, smoked salmon, smoked sturgeon ..." 'Fine, Dieckmann, you'll do it. And then give us six glasses of milk and a pint of beer, if I'm not mistaken, Herr Permaneder, eh?..." “One beer, six times milk...Sweet milk, buttermilk, thick milk, full milk, Herr Kunsel...” “Half and half, Dieckmann; sweet milk and buttermilk. So in an hour.” And they walked across the square.

• From Blue Like Jazz (2003)

  I felt like I had nothing in terms of community and God brought a community up out of the ground, out of pure nothing like a magic trick. Like I said before, I never thought I would love church. But here is what I love about Imago-Dei. First: It is spiritual. What I mean is the people at Imago pray and fast about things. It took me a while to understand that the answer to problems was not marketing or program but rather spirituality. If we needed to reach youth, we wouldn’t do a pizza feed and a game night, we would get together and pray and fast and ask God what to do. God led some guys to start a homeless teen outreach downtown, and now they feed about one hundred homeless teenagers every week. It is the nuttiest youth group you will ever see, but that is what God said to do. I love that sort of thing because rather than the church serving itself, the church is serving the lost and lonely. It gives me chills when I think about it because it is that beautiful of a thing. Second: Art. Imago supports the arts. Rick isn’t much of an artist, but he turned things over to a guy named Peter Jenkins, who created the drawings for this book. Peter started an “artistery” where artists live and create art, teach art, and encourage people to be creative. Peter recently held a gallery opening in a local coffeehouse, and all the art was created by people who attend Imago. Artists feel at home at Imago. I even led a short-story group where we wrote short stories and then had a reading under Christmas lights and candles over at the artistery. I think there are artists at a lot of churches who don’t have an outlet, and by creating an outlet, the church gives artists a chance to express themselves and in return the church gets free stuff to put on their walls. Creating an arts group at a church is a great idea. Third: Community. Rick is very, very serious about people living together, eating together, and playing together. He encourages young single people to get houses and live with each other. Rick doesn’t like it when people are lonely. We have home communities that meet all over town, and we consider this to be the heart of our church. Almost every church I have ever been to already does a great job at this. Fourth: Authenticity. This is something of a buzzword, I know, but Imago actually lives this. I speak from the pulpit at Imago from time to time, and I am completely comfortable saying anything I like. I don’t have to pretend to be godly in order for people to listen. Authenticity is an enormous value at Imago.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  ORIGEN. For when a just man is born into the world, the authors of his birth rejoice; but when one is born who is to be as it were an exile to labour and punishment, they are struck with terror and dismay. AMBROSE. But a saint is not only the blessing of his parents, but also the salvation of many; as it follows, And many shall rejoice at his birth. Parents are reminded here to rejoice at the birth of saints, and to give thanks. For it is no slight gift of God to vouchsafe unto us children, to be the transmitters of our race, to be the heirs of succession. 1:15–1715. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. AMBROSE. Next to his becoming the rejoicing of many, the greatness of his virtue is prophesied; as it is said, For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord. The greatness signified is not of the body, but of the soul. Greatness in the sight of the Lord is greatness of soul, greatness of virtue. THEOPHYLACT. For many are called great before men, but not before God, as the hypocrites. And so in like manner was John called great, as the parents of John were called just, before the Lord. AMBROSE. He extended not the boundaries of an empire, nor brought back in triumph the spoils of war, (but, what is far greater,) preaching in the desert he overcame by his great virtue the delights of the world, and the lusts of the flesh. Hence it follows; And he shall drink no wine nor strong drink. BEDE. Sicera is interpreted “drunkenness,” and by the word the Hebrews understand any drink that can intoxicate, (whether made from fruits, corn, or any other thing.) But it was part of the law of the Nazarites to give up wine and strong drink at the time of their consecration. (Numb. 6:5.) Hence John, and others like him, that they might always remain Nazarites, (i. e. holy,) are careful always to abstain from these things. For he ought not to be drunk with wine (in which is licentiousness) who desires to be filled with the new wine of the Holy Spirit; rightly then is he, from whom all drunkenness with wine is utterly put away, filled with the grace of the Spirit. But it follows, And he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  The third reward is to have in turn grateful and pleasing children. For a father naturally treasures his children, but the contrary is not always the case: “He who honors his father shall have joy in his own children” [Sir 3:6]. Again: “With what measure you measure, it shall be measured to you again” [Mt 7:2]. The fourth reward is a praiseworthy reputation: “For the glory of a man is from the honor of his father” [Sir 3:13]. And again: “Of what an evil fame is he who forsakes his father?” [Sir 3:18]. A fifth reward is riches: “The father’s blessing establishes the houses of his children, but the mother’s curse roots up the foundation” [Sir 3:11]. MEANINGS OF “FATHER”“Honor your father and your mother.” A man is called father not only by reason of generation, but also for other reasons, and to each of these there is due a certain reverence. Thus, the Apostles and the Saints are called fathers because of their doctrine and their exemplification of faith: “For if you have ten thousands instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you” [1 Cor 4:15]. And again: “Let us now praise men of renown and our fathers in their generation” [Sir 44:1]. However, let us praise them not in word only, but by imitating them; and we do this if nothing is found in us contrary to what we praise in them. Our superiors in the Church are also called fathers; and they too are to be respected as the ministers of God: “Remember your prelates,... follow their faith, considering the end of their conversation” [Hb 13:7]. And again: “He who hears you, hears Me; and he who despises you, despises Me” [Lk 10:16]. We honor them by showing them obedience: “Obey your prelates, and be subject to them” [Hb 13:17]. And also by paying them tithes: “Honor the Lord with your substance, and give Him of the first of your fruits” [Prov 3:9]. Rulers and kings are called fathers: “Father, if the prophet had commanded you do some great thing, surely you would have done it” [2 Kg 5:13]. We call them fathers because their whole care is the good of their people. And we honor them by being subject to them: “Let every soul be subject to higher powers” [Rm 13:1]. We should be subject to them not merely through fear, but through love; and not merely because it is reasonable, but because of the dictates of our conscience. Because “there is no power but from God” [Rom 13:7]. And so to all such we must render what we owe them: “Tribute, to whom tribute is due; custom, to whom custom; fear, to whom fear; honor, to whom honor” [Rom 13:41]. And again: “My son, fear the Lord and the king” [Prov 24:21].

• From New Testament Words (1964)

  To the end of the day a man’s will is free. It is the characteristic of love that love can only offer and can never coerce. A man can spurn the offer of God or he can completely disregard it. He can live life as if the good news did not exist, but he does so at the peril of his immortal soul. (x) The euaggelion is something which a man can ‘twist’ and ‘distort’ (II Cor. 11.4; Gal. 1.6, 7). There is such a thing as preaching what Paul called ‘another gospel’. When a man begins to believe in or to seek to propagate Christianity as he would like it to be instead of as God proclaims it is, he cannot do other than preach ‘another gospel’. It is only after we have listened to God that we can speak to men. The danger is that we tell God instead of listening to God telling us. As we study this word euaggelion and as we trace it through the NT we begin to see that it involves and includes certain things. (i) The euaggelion is ‘the good news of truth’ (Gal. 2.5, 14; Col. 1.5). With the coming of Jesus Christ the time of guesses about God is ended and the time of certainty begun. With his coming the time of groping after the meaning and the method of life is closed and the time of certainty is here. Christianity was never meant to present men with a series of problems but with an armoury of certainties. (ii) The euaggelion is ‘the good news of hope’ (Col. 2.23). The man who tries to live life with only the materials which human effort can bring to it cannot do other than despair of himself and despair of the world. John Buchan defined an atheist as ‘a man with no invisible means of support’. When a man realizes what the good news means he is filled with hope for himself and for the world. (iii) The euaggelion is ‘the good news of peace’ (Eph. 6.15). So long as a man tries to live life alone he is inevitably a split personality. As Studdert-Kennedy said, ‘Part of him comes from heaven, and part of him comes from earth.’ The good news tells us that victory comes from surrender, from the death of self and the rising to life of Christ within us. The good news brings to men the possibility of a fully integrated personality where the old unhappy tensions are ended. (iv) The euaggelion is ‘the good news of God’s promise’ (Eph. 3.6). The characteristic of the pagan gods, and even of God as the OT knew him, was that he was a God of threats.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  BEDE. The holy women, when the Angels stood beside them, are reported not to have fallen to the ground, but to have bowed their faces to the earth; nor do we read that any of the saints, at the time of our Lord’s resurrection, worshipped with prostration to the ground either our Lord Himself, or the Angels who appeared to them. Hence has arisen the ecclesiastical custom, either in memory of our Lord’s resurrection, or in the hope of our own, of praying on every Lord’s day, and through the whole season of Pentecost, not with bended knees, but with our faces bowed to the earth. But not in the sepulchre, which is the place of the dead, was He to be sought, who rose from the dead to life. And therefore it is added, They said to them, that is, the Angels to the women, Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. On the third day then, as He Himself foretold to the women, together with the rest of His disciples, He celebrated the triumph of His resurrection. Hence it follows, Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again, &c. For on the day of the preparation at the ninth hour giving up the ghost, buried in the evening, early on the morning of the first day of the week He rose again. ATHANASIUS. (Lib. de Inc. Fil. Dei.) He might indeed at once have raised His body from the dead. But some one would have said that He was never dead, or that death plainly had never existed in Him. And perhaps if the resurrection of our Lord had been delayed beyond the third day, the glory of incorruption had been concealed. In order therefore to shew His body to be dead, He suffered the interval of one day, and on the third day manifested His body to be without corruption. BEDE. One day and two nights also He lay in the sepulchre, because He joined the light of His single death to the darkness of our double death. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. Now the women, when they had received the sayings of the Angels, hastened to tell them to the disciples; as it follows, And they remembered his words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest. For woman who was once the minister of death, is now the first to receive and tell the awful mystery of the resurrection. The female race has obtained therefore both deliverance from reproach, and the withdrawal of the curse.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  IV. On the fourth head is to be noted the glory of the Saints, “gather the wheat into My barn”—which is (1) spacious, for the sake of pleasantness; (2) refreshing, for the sake of joy; (3) enduring, on account of eternity. Of the first, Ps. 26:8, “Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth.” Of the second, Ps. 112:3, “Wealth and riches shall be in His house.” Of the third, 2 Cor. 5:1, “An house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” V. On the fifth head is to be noted the abundance of the “barn”—it is full of corn and wine and oil. (1) Corn is the joy of the vision of the Son—Ps. 81:16, “He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat;” S. John 12:24, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die.” (2) Wine is the joy of the vision of the Father—Ps. 104:15, “Wine that maketh glad the heart of man.” (3) Oil, the joy of the vision of the Holy Spirit—Ps. 45:7, “Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” The “oil of gladness” is God the Holy Ghost. Of these three, 2 Chron. 11:11, “Store of victual and of oil and wine.” Gen. 27:28, “God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine.” HOMILY XI THE HEAVENLY STADIUM SEPTUAGESIMA.—(FROM THE EPISTLE)“So run, that ye may obtain.”—1 Cor. 9:24. THE Apostle sets before us two things in this Epistle. Firstly, he exhorts us to run—“run.” Secondly, he points out the end of running—“that ye may obtain.”

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  II. On the second head, it is to be noted, that the glory of our body, when it is conformed to the body of the glory of Christ, consists of seven things. (1) It will be lovely by the suitableness of all the members, S. August. (“City of God,” lib. xxii. c. 19), “Thenceforth there will be no deformity, which now makes unsuitableness of parts, where also the things which are deformed may be corrected; and what is less than it ought to be, since the Creator knew, thence it will be supplied, and what is more than it ought to be will be taken away, the integrity of the material being preserved.” (2) There will be a wonderful sweetness of the outward appearance in the whole body, S. August., “How great will be the sweetness of complexion when the Just shall shine as the Sun in the kingdom of His Father!” The beauty of all the outward appearance consists in these two things, S. August., “All beauty of the body is from the suitableness of its parts, as by a certain sweetness of complexion;” but there will be then all beauty in our bodies, Philip. 3:21, “Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” (3) There will be velocity of motion, S. August., “Where the spirit shall be willing there will be the body instantly.” (4) It will have a perfect liberation from all want. (5) There will be full and high happiness. Of these two, S. August., “All the members and bowels of the incorruptible body, which now we see distributed various ways by the use of necessity, will not then be so; but this necessity is itself full and certain security and eternal happiness, and it will advance in the praises of God.” (6) It will be impassible, and immortal, and eternal, S. August., “Whatever has perished from the living bodies, or from the corpses after death, shall be restored, or it shall remain in the sepulchre, in the newness of the spiritual body changed out of the oldness of the animal body, and it will rise again, clothed in incorruption and immortality. (7) There will be full peace and concord between the body and the spirit, S. August., “A spiritual flesh will be supplied to the flesh, but it will yet be flesh, not spirit.” How happy, therefore, will they be who shall be held to be worthy of that resurrection! Yet they must be those, who here have died with Christ, Colos. 3:3, 4, “Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” To which glory may we, &c. HOMILY XII IMPERFECT OBEDIENCE SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.—(FROM THE GOSPEL)“Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”—S. Matt. 5:20.

• From Saint Thomas Aquinas Collection (22 Books) (2016)

  V. Fifthly, we ought to serve God for the sake of our advantage; for many profitable things flow to man from the service of God. But here three are noticed. (1) Liberation from all enemies, “But the Lord your God ye shall fear; and He shall deliver you out of the hands of all your enemies,” 2 Kings 17:39. (2) Ineffable exultation of heart, “Serve the Lord with gladness, come before His presence with singing,” Psa. 100:2. (3) The eternal fruition of all joys, “Behold, My servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, My servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty; behold, My servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed; behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart,” Isai. 65:13, 14. “Where I am there also shall My servant be,” S. John 12:26. For Jesus was at the right hand of the Father, that is in the highest good things of the Father, and there will “He place those who serve Him.” “Blessed is that servant whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that He shall make him ruler over all His goods,” S. Matt. 24:46, 47. “Well done, good and faithful servant.… enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,” S. Matt. 25:23. To which joy may we be brought, &c. HOMILY XXXI FOUR CONDITIONS OF SALVATION SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.—(FROM THE EPISTLE)“May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height.”—Ephes. 3:18. IN these words four things are noted, which are necessary to us for salvation. Firstly, charity, by which we love our friends and enemies: “What is the breadth,” Gloss. Which signifies the expansive nature of charity, which extends even to our enemies. Secondly, perseverance, that we finally continue in charity; “and length;” Gloss. That which is the length of charity is the length of perseverance. Thirdly, right intention, that we may set before ourselves God only as the reward of our actions.” “And height.” This is that which lifts the soul on high, that God may be expected for a reward. Fourthly, that we may not fail in all these things through pride. “The depth:” it is humility which places man in the lowest state in regard to man, but in the highest state in relation to God. “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted,” S. Luke 18:14.