FAIR SUNSHINE

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.  Mat 28:18-20  Consider the golden bookends which bind the volume of our Lord’s Great Commission. Upon the one side, He hath engraved: 'All power is given unto Me.' Upon the other, He hath set His seal: 'Lo, I am with you alway.' Between these two pillars of divine strength lies the whole of our calling. Whatever task the Master lays upon thy heart, whatever cross thou art bid to carry, it must be received with a faith that rests entirely upon His' omnipotence. We do not labor perchance. The victory is already sure in the courts of Heaven, yet it pleased our King to use our weakly hands for its completion. ...

Luke 18:9-14 O ur message for this seventh week of our second set of street meetings finds us gathered once more in the open air  (after every sixth public gathering we meet indoors on the seventh, for the sake of the sheepfold) . After an admonition to always pray and not lose hope, we are brought to that portion of holy Scripture following, where the parable of the proud Pharisee and the grieving Publican is narrated by no less than our Blessed Lord Himself.  The Master did not speak this to all but unto "certain others," pointedly at those who "trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." (Luke 18:9)  Observe, the folly of self-conceit. It is said that two men went up to the Temple to pray—a holy errand, indeed—but one among them utterly forgot his business. The parable begins with the oration of the Pharisee (It is a most miserable greatness that requires the ruin of another's reputation to sustain itself). The Pharisee measur...

The sacred narrative recorded within the eighteenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke was given to us by our blessed Redeemer for a singular purpose: to impress upon the saints of every passing generation the solemn truth that 'men ought always to pray, and not to faint.' (Luke 18:1) Herein, the Master unveils that indelible mark by which the true followers of the Lamb are known—that they do 'cry day and night unto Him.' (Luke 18:7, Revelation 5:8) Let it not be supposed, however, that we are called to a life of perpetual seclusion, divorced from our duties; rather, it is that our inward frame and the very breath of our spirits should abide in a state of unceasing communion with the Almighty, our thoughts ever ascending to the throne of grace amidst the labors of the day. ( 1 Thessalonians 5:17 ) Not all which bears the name of prayer is accepted as such in the courts of heaven, even as not every soul that professes the name of Christ shall be found a...

To ask our blessed Redeemer, during His sojourn on earth, “What good hast thou lately bestowed upon thy neighbor?” would be bordering on the profane. Yet it would not be, to ask ourselves the same, and compare to Him as our example, who said, "go and do likewise." I am deeply indebted to our dear brother Ryan, a missionary preacher in the Andes, for this timely word of encouragement. It is a humbling providence when a fellow traveler on the narrow way offers a hand to steady my pace. Such exhortations remind us that we do not labor in this vineyard alone. May the Lord richly repay him for the kindness he has shown to my soul this day. (8) Let me ask, in the eighth place, whether we ever try to do any good in the world? Our Lord Jesus Christ was continually “going about doing good,” while He was on earth. (Acts 10:38) The Apostles, and all the disciples in Bible times, were always striving to walk in His steps. A Christian who was content to go to heaven himself, and ca...

I t has pleased the Almighty of late to visit our little flock with a season of sore trial. The adversary has been permitted to cast a heavy shadow over us, and many among our number find themselves bowed down by sickness. Furthermore, we find a spirit of laziness among the youth of our teen class, as the world and its guile seek to draw away their hearts. One dear soul hath been pulled away by her mother to hear Mass, wandering from what she has learned from the Gospel. Yet, this past Lord’s Day, even after the children’s assembly, two young teens stood as a testament to His grace. One hath walked with us these four years, enduring many sore trials and tempests within his own house; yet, he speaks with a wisdom and a graciousness that can only be wrought by God's divine hand. With him is a younger lad, who stoutly declares his desire to remain apart from joining his mother’s church, professing that he finds no bread for his soul there. Truly, the Lord knows how to gather His own...

This preliminary survey gave me a prospect of the difficulties that await. The journey alone is a most wearying cross to bear, even without the labors of preaching. While traversing a lonely stretch of road, with nothing but the scenery of trees and valleys for company, I asked myself, ' can this be done? ' only to be met by that sterner demand of the conscience, ' do I want it to remain undone? ' The scarcity of people in each of the location was owing to the lateness of the hour; during the afternoon, the populace is occupied at their work, their studies, or in their homes. I thus conclude that morning is the season best suited for my visits. Yet, this in itself presents a new trial for me, for I have long found the early hours a heavy burden to my natural disposition, and the flesh is ever heavy to rise in the morning. Indeed, my own habits are set in a different mold, as I am accustomed to pursue my studies late into the night and onto the very break of the dawn. ...

Luke 17:20-30 E ven as the people of our Lord's day were taught to expect a militant Messiah who would but break their earthly oppression and restore the nation of Israel (Acts 1:6) , so the people of this present age are fed a God who is distant—who dwells only in the lifeless product of weekly mass, traditions, repeating routines, conferences and non-experiential preachings. He is made a mere subject of knowledge, confined to the intellect of man rather than made manifest in the reality of His kingdom advancing in the Holy Spirit's power (Acts 1:8). Our blessed Lord appeared in His first advent not as a king of might and splendor, but as a suffering servant, a man of sorrows, a social reject and an outcast well associated with grief. He must first suffer many things and eventually be rejected by His very people, so as to die for sin. So contrary was this to the self-serving expectations of men. He came unto His own, but because He clothed Himself in humility rather tha...