Archives by: Gary Hoag

“The way of godliness consists of these two parts, pious doctrines and good works. Neither are the doctrines acceptable to God without good works, nor does God accept works accomplished otherwise than as linked with pious doctrines.”

Cyril of Jerusalem lived from 315-386. His gift to the church was his refusal to separate good doctrine from good living, insisting that orthodoxy (right belief) and orthopraxis (right living) must be married. He was accused of selling some gifts from the emperor and giving the money to the poor. Cyril was condemned and forced into exile. Of his 35 years as a bishop, nearly 16 were spent in exile.

Cyril of Jerusalem (313-386) in Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 187.

“Lord, in our efforts to serve you, help us be true to who we are in you. Make us see and understand the gifts and talents you have given us, and give us courage to use them for the building up of your kingdom. Amen.”

Taken from Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) 183.

“Give according to your income lest God make your income according to your giving.”

Peter Marshall (1940-2010), cf. 2 Corinthians 8:11-12, as quoted by Charles F. Stanley in Handbook for Christian Living (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2008) 551.

“The three great duties of life are prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Your rule [of life], to be of value, must include all three. It is for each one to determine how strict his rule shall be, to determine between God and his own soul.”

Joseph Francis (1899-1939) Episcopal Bishop of Indiana in Lent: The Holy Season (Washington, D.C.: Neale Publishing Company, 1902) 179.

“Lent is a sort of gymnasium for character. It trains the will. It makes us morally strong. In Lent we do without some things we like and which in other seasons we might properly enjoy; and the practice makes us able to say “No” to some things we like and ought not to have.

In the store window is some candy; in your mouth is a “sweet tooth” watering for it; in your pocket is money to pay for the sugar-plums. But you have made up your mind to do without candy in Lent. So you pass on and give your nickel to the Sunday School or the Church, that it may do good to other children than yourself. Every time you do that you are getting more and more control over yourself and growing in the habit of unselfishness.

When you grow up you may have to face some great temptation; or some chance to do a nobly generous deed will come to you. What will make you a hero or a saint, when other men or women are weak and fail, is the gymnasium you put your soul through in what you will then feel were the dear old Lents of your childhood.”

Lewis Burton (1852-1940), Episcopal Bishop of Lexington in Lent: The Holy Season (Washington, D.C.: Neale Publishing Company, 1902) 143-145.

“It’s a good question to ask ourselves during Lent. It is a scandal, after all, for Christians to have closets overstuffed with clothing when there are families who are shivering because they can’t pay their heating bill. It is a scandal for Christians to be epidemically overweight when they have near neighbors who go to bed hungry.

We need to give to God — whom we meet in our neighbor — until these problems go away. Whatever we give, whether it’s a tenth or a twentieth or half, is symbolic of the greater giving that defines the Christian life. As God gave himself entirely to us, so we give ourselves entirely to Him. In the Eucharist, He holds nothing back. He gives us His body, blood, soul and divinity — everything He has. That’s the giving we need to imitate.”

Mike Aquilina Intro to Lent III: Almsgiving, February 23, 2007 blogpost: www.fathersofthechurch.com/2007/02/23/intro-to-lent-iii-almsgiving/

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
the shadow of a mighty rock
within a weary land;
a home within the wilderness,
a rest upon the way,
from the burning of the noontide heat,
and the burden of the day.

Upon that cross of Jesus
mine eye at times can see
the very dying form of One
who suffered there for me;
and from my stricken heart with tears
two wonders I confess:
the wonders of redeeming love
and my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow
for my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
the sunshine of his face;
content to let the world go by,
to know no gain nor loss,
my sinful self my only shame,
my glory all the cross.

“Beneath the Cross of Jesus”
Words by Elizabeth Clephane (1830-1869)
Music by Frederick Maker (1844-1927)
Hear tune at: www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh297.sht

“Lent is a season of spiritual recuperation. Just as during the summer season, rest and refreshment come to jaded minds and bodies from nearer contact with nature: so during Lent, as we draw away from the cares and pleasures and distractions of the world, the spirit may become reinvigorated by closer association with God through prayer and fasting, by service, and alms-giving. Lent is soul tonic.”

William Leonard (1829-1916) Episcopal Bishop of Ohio in Lent: The Holy Season (Washington, D.C.: Neale Publishing Company, 1902) 104.

We are, we are, we’re caught in the in between
Of who we already are and who we are yet to be
And we’re looking for love but finding we’re still in need
It’s only what we have lost will we be allowed to keep
And we’re waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear

Look at all the pretty things that steal my heart away
I can feel I’m fading
Cause Lord I love so many things that keep me from Your face
Come and save me

We run we run to finally be set free
But we’re fighting for what we already received
So we’re waiting but our eyes are wandering
To all this earth holds dear

Look at all the pretty things that steal my heart away
I can feel I’m fading
Cause Lord I love so many things that keep me from Your face
Come and save me

We are we are caught in the in between
But we’re fighting for what we already have received
We are we are caught in the in between
But we’re fighting for what we already have received

Look at all the pretty things that steal my heart away
I can feel I’m fading
Cause Lord I love so many things that keep me from Your face
Come and save me

Tenth Avenue North: “All the Pretty Things” on the album, The Light Meets The Dark (2010).

Watch music video on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjycRhHR5Mc&feature=related

“Give thanks to the Most High Giver!”

Saint Patrick (c. 389-461), as he was evangelizing an area of the northern part of Ireland, with these words Patrick blessed one cow, two stags and two boars that God had provided for feeding 14,000 people, retold in The Most Ancient Lives of Saint Patrick (Middlesex: Echo Library, 2009) 172.