Patristic Quote of the Day

CANON 1. If anyone denies that it is the whole man, that is, both body and soul, that was "changed for the worse" through the offense of Adam's sin, but believes that the freedom of the soul remains unimpaired and that only the body is subject to corruption, he is deceived by the error of Pelagius and contradicts the scripture which says, "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek. 18:20); and, "Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey?" (Rom. 6:126); and, "For whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved" (2 Pet. 2:19).—Council of Orange, Presided over by St. Caesarius of Arles

Luther

God's grace is a great, strong, mighty, and active thing. It upholds, leads, drives, draws, and works all things in a man and is really felt and experienced. It remains hidden, but its works are manifest. Works and words point to where it is, just as the fruit and the leaves show the kind and nature of the tree.—Sermons, 1522

Catechesis: Sacrament of the Altar

It must also be carefully explained who the unworthy guests of this Supper are. They are those who go to this Sacrament without true repentance and sorrow for their sins, without true faith and the good intention of amending their lives. By their unworthy oral eating of Christ's body, they load themselves with damnation (i.e., temporal and eternal punishments) and become guilty of profaning Christ's body and blood.—FC SD VII:68

April Workout Totals

Pushups: 3,425

Pull-ups: 365

45 lb. KB swings: 365

HIIT (10 minutes each): 8 

Averaged 13,916 steps per day. 

Grateful that this 61 ½ year old body still is holding up. Fueled by:

Patristic Quote of the Day

But the Lord sends a famine against the land on those who understand earthly things; and this is a famine not of bread and of the thirst for water, but one of hearing of the word of the Lord, when doctrine faints in the churches because of the sins of the people.—St. Jerome on Amos 8

Luther

Thus you are wholly transformed. All things from which you previously fled you now seek, and what you previously sought you now flee. For in this way you begin to be all on fire with godly love, and you become a different man, completely reborn, and everything that is you is changed. Now you are as eager to be chaste as you were before to be unchaste, and the same applies to all your desires and inclinations.—Sermon, 1522

Catechesis: Sacrament of the Altar

It is not only godly, pious, and believing Christians who orally eat Christ's true body and blood in the Sacrament. So do unworthy, godless hypocrites, like Judas and his ilk, who have no spiritual communion with Christ, and who go to the Lord's Table without true repentance and conversion to God. St. Paul teaches clearly that by their unworthy eating and drinking they grievously sin against Christ's body and blood. (1 Cor. 11:27). —FC SD VII:60

Patristic Quote of the Day

Do you wish to learn that we accomplish more before God when we pray through ourselves than when others pray for us? The Canaanite woman cried out, and the disciples came, and He said to them: “‘I have not been sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’” However, when she herself approached, He helped her. You see how He held her off when others prayed, but when she herself cried out in prayer, He acceded. So although we are not ignorant that we are unworthy sinners, let us be by ourselves and without intercessors, still we should not lose heart.—St. John Chrysostom,  Homily, de profectu evangelii, vol. 5, fol. 428 (HT: Pr. Heath Curtis)

Luther

We should preach on these words [John 3:36] for a hundred thousand years, and proclaim them again and again. In fact, we can never preach enough about them, for Christ promises eternal life immediately to him who believes. He does not say, he who believes will receive eternal life, but immediately you believe in Me, you have eternal life already.—Sermons on John

Catechesis: Sacrament of the Altar

From this [1 Cor. 10:16, 17] we clearly learn that not only the cup that Christ blessed at the first Supper, and not only the bread that Christ broke and distributed, but also the bread we bread and the cup we bless, is the communion of Christ's body and blood. So all who eat this bread and drink this cup truly receive, and are partakers of, Christ's true body and blood.—FC SD VII:54

Patristic Quote of the Day

While the priest of the idols was giving order that Amos not prophesy in Bethel, not only does Amos prophesy, but he also shows that he fears the God who sent him more than him who gives a prohibition.—Jerome on Amos 7

Luther

In virtue of this a Christian is called a new creature of God, which He Himself alone makes, above and besides all other creatures or works, yet in such a way that in this temporal life there is made but a beginning, and He works daily at it until it is perfected, when it will be a godly creature, pure and bright like the sun, without any sin and frailty, and all on fire with godly love.—Sermons, 1536

Catechesis: Sacrament of the Altar

He does not speak about a sign for His body, or about a symbol or figurative body, or about the power of His body and the benefits that He has earned for us by the sacrifice of His body for us. Instead, He speaks about His true, essential body (which He delivered to death for us) and about His true, essential blood (which He shed for us on the tree of the cross for the forgiveness of sins).—FC SD VII:49

Patristic Quote of the Day

Since all of us are in sin, and we are subject to the truth of judgment, the Lord will have compassion on us, and because we are little ones, he will raise us at the time of the resurrection, or he will raise us, who were lying in vices, through the virtues... "As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on them who fear him."—St. Jerome on Amos 7

Luther

That is a strong and hard saying, that we must be born anew. It means we must come out of the birth of sin to the birth of justification; else we shall never enter the kingdom of heaven. Upon this birth or justification good works must follow.—Exposition, John 3.

Catechesis: Sacrament of the Altar

He is just beginning His bitter suffering and death for our sins. In those sad last moments, with great consideration and solemnity, He institutes this most venerable Sacrament. It was to be used until the end of the world with great reverence and humility. It was to be an abiding memorial of His bitter suffering and death and all His benefits. It was a sealing and confirmation of the New Testament, a consolation of all distressed hearts, and a firm bond of unity for Christians with Christ, their Head, and with one another.—FC SD VII:44.

Quasimodo Geniti

Liturgy right here. 

One Week

Well, our experiment proceeds apace. After the Easter feast, we went full-bore Strict Carnivore as in: eating meat, salt, and water, inspired by Dr. Anthony Chaffee. The first few days without coffee were definitely a bit tough, but we were helped through with the supplement L-tyrosine. It prevents the caffeine withdrawal headache, but it doesn't do a thing for the brain-fog and the sluggish feeling. That had passed by Friday, though, and now we're both feeling great. Getting used to the new routine (of NOT fixing the coffee) has been hard. I've been a coffee drinker since childhood! Now I just come out and fill a couple glasses of water, and then we commence our prayers. Then after whatever workout we're doing for the day (M-F only) we then move onto rustling up some breakfast. Our new breakfast favorite is mince (ground beef cooked to a dark brown crisp), topped with easy over eggs, topped with pork belly. YUM. A close second is what's pictured: left-over steak cut to bite sized pieces (reheated in air fryer) and likewise topped with eggs and pork belly. 

P.S. Here's a great carnivore interview.

Spring has finally arrived...

Last night we did our annual...

...gathering for the birthdays of these lovely ladies. Together they tally 119, though you'd never know it, right?

And as usual, after dinner we threw a few games of pinochle which the gentlemen, gallant as they are, permitted the ladies to win. I don't think they were even aware when we were doing it.