May 5

"If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?" JER. xii. 5.

HOW wouldst thou hang upon the cross,

To whom a weary  hour is loss?

Or how the thorns and scourging brook,

Who shrinkest from a scornful look?

-J. KEBLE

A HEART unloving among kindred has no love towards God's saints and angels. If we have  a cold heart towards a servant or a friend, why should we wonder if we have no fervour towards God? If we are cold in our private prayers, we should be earthly and dull in the most devout religious order; if we cannot bear the vexations of a companion, how should we bear the contradiction of sinners? if a little pain overcomes us, how could we endure a cross? if we have no tender, cheerful, affectionate love to those with whom our daily hours are spent, how should we feel the pulse and ardour of love to the unknown and the evil, the ungrateful and repulsive?

-H. E. MANNING