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Enjoy Quiet Times from Believers around the world
January 31st, 2025
Silence is a divine invitation
John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Reflection
Take a moment and think
What is one thing you have not surrendered to God?
Heroes in the Faith
Jan Hus
Jan Hus, also referred to as John Hus was a Czech Priest, philosopher and early Christian reformer. Given he lived before Luther, Calvin and Zwingli; he is considered the first Church reformer. He played a pivotal role as a predecessor to Protestantism, and His teachings influenced Western Europe, and had a major influence on Martin Luther himself.
He was burned at the stake for heresy against the doctrines of the Catholic Church, particularly related to those on ecclesiology, the Eucharist and other theological topics. Moments before his death, the imperial marshal asked Jan one final time to recant and save his life.
Jan responded “God is my witness that…the principal intention of my preaching…and all my other acts or writings are solely that I might turn people from sin. And in that truth of the gospel that I wrote, taught, and preached in accordance with the sayings and expositions of the holy doctors, I am willingly glad to die today.” The executioner then started the fire.
Edify your Spirit
Voices of the Past
Anthony the Great
Anthony the Great was born in 251 in Egypt. He was one of these Desert Fathers, and amongst the very first ones to live the hardships of a solitary life in the wilderness. For decades, he remained a strict ascetic. His purpose for doing so was clear enough: “The person who abides in solitude and quiet is delivered from fighting three battles: hearing, speech, and sight. Then there remains one battle to fight — the battle of the heart.”
Towards the end of his life, he organized the many people who had finally gathered around him into the first body of monks in history, which is why he was later known as the ‘Father of All Monks’.
He died in 356, leaving to his companions this very touching message: “Be earnest to keep your strong purpose, as though you were but now beginning. You know the demons who plot against you, you know how savage they are and how powerless; therefore, fear them not. Let Christ be as the breath you breathe; in Him put your trust. Live as dying daily, heeding yourselves and remembering the counsels you have heard from me. […] And now God save you, children, for Anthony departs and is with you no more.”
Take a Step of Faith
Goals
Take time and plan your day
What are your goals for the day?
Challenge
Give it a shot
Talk to a random stranger today.
Church History
The Surprise of 1498
Pentecost delivered the gift of tongues soon after Jesus had proclaimed: “… go and make disciples of all nations.” The paradox is how little recognition goes to the evangelist who used his powers of communication to take the message further than anyone else.
Eight days after Jesus met his disciples following the Resurrection, he encountered St. Thomas. Since then, St. Thomas the Apostle has been better known as Doubting Thomas. His least-used title is “Apostle of India.” In the Subcontinent, the situation is very different. There, even the vast non-Christian majority of 1.7 billion are mostly aware of his role as missionary extraordinaire.
When Vasco da Gama’s fleet reached India in 1498, the Portuguese were surprised to find Christian communities thriving in the south of the Subcontinent. They were even more surprised by the locals’ certainty that their church had been established by St. Thomas. They shouldn’t have been, as countless travelers, including Marco Polo, had claimed that the saint’s grave was there. St. Thomas had preached to the Hindus and the Jews of southern India and had won thousands of converts. For the St. Thomas Christians, there is still no doubt that theirs is an unbroken tradition going back to their patron’s arrival in 52.
