Men will surrender to the spirit of the age. They will say that if they had lived in our day, faith would be simple and easy. But in their day, they will say, things are complex; the Church must be brought up to date and made meaningful to the day's problems.
Interpretation
This quote speaks to the tendency of people to believe that faith and morals are easier to uphold in different times than their own.
Anthony Of Padua reflects on how individuals often perceive past eras with nostalgia, believing that faith was more straightforward and uncomplicated then. He suggests that in every age, people rationalize their struggles with faith and push for adaptations to meet contemporary challenges, implying that this tendency can lead to a disconnect between timeless truths and modern interpretations.
In practice
During a sermon about adapting beliefs to modern issues, one might refer to this quote to highlight historical perspectives on faith.
The creator of the heavens obeys a carpenter; the God of eternal glory listens to a poor virgin. Has anyone ever witnessed anything comparable to this? Let the philosopher no longer disdain from listening to the common laborer; the wise, to the simple; the educated, to the illiterate; a child of a prince, to a peasant.
Damned money! Alas! How many religious did it blind! How many cloistered religious did it deceive! Money is the 'droppings of birds' that blinded the eyes of Tobit.
The spirit of humility is sweeter than honey, and those who nourish themselves with this honey produce sweet fruit.
Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey.
The life of the body is the soul; the life of the soul is God.
Earthly riches are like the reed. Its roots are sunk in the swamp, and its exterior is fair to behold; but inside it is hollow. If a man leans on such a reed, it will snap off and pierce his soul.
We are not to preach the doing of good things; good deeds are not to be preached, they are to be performed.
Spiritual life can certainly follow the pattern one sees in the fake martial arts, with most teachers making nebulous and magical claims that never get tested, while their students derange themselves with weird ideas, empty rituals, and other affectations.
We would rather speak ill of ourselves than not talk about ourselves at all.
Many of her thoughts were perfect syllogisms; unluckily they always remained thoughts. Only a few were irrational assumptions; but, unfortunately, they were the ones which most frequently grew into deeds
Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend...or not even a legend. Think of all the examples. And how trivial the things we want so passionately are.
The great secret, Eliza, is not having bad manners or good manners or any other particular sort of manners, but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no thirdclass carriages, and one soul is as good as another.
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