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At Sunday worship, as in every dimension of our existence, many of us pretend to believe we are sinners. Consequently, all we can do is pretend we have been forgiven. As a result, our whole spiritual life is pseudo-repentance and pseudo-bliss.

Brennan Manning

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Brennan Manning
Age: 75 †
Born: 1937
Born: April 27
Died: 2013
Died: April 12
Author
Catholic Priest
Theologian
New York City
New York
Richard Francis Xavier Manning
Many
Sunday
Consequently
Every
Result
Dimension
Believe
Worship
Forgiven
Life
Results
Repentance
Existence
Sinner
Jesus
Dimensions
Spiritual
Bliss
Pseudo
Whole
Pretend
Sinners

More quotes by Brennan Manning

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Whenever I allow anything but tenderness and compassion to dictate my response to life--be it self-righteous anger, moralizing, defensiveness, the pressing need to change others...I am alienated from my true self. My identity as Abba's child [a child of God] becomes ambiguous, tentative and confused
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What makes a genius? The ability to see. To see what? The butterfly in a caterpillar, the eagle in an egg, the saint in a selfish person, life in death, unity in separation, God in the human and human in God and suffering as the form in which the incomprehensibility of God himself appears.
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Put bluntly, the American church today accepts grace in theory but denies it in practice. We say we believe that the fundamental structure of reality is grace, not works - but our lives refute our faith.
Brennan Manning
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The dominant characteristic of an authentic spiritual life is the gratitude that flows from trust
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It is for the inconsistent, unsteady disciples whose cheese is falling off their cracker.
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We even refuse to be our true self with God- and then wonder why we lack intimacy with him.
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God is loving us - you and me - this moment, just as we are and not as we should be.
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Our huffing and puffing to impress God, our scrambling for brownie points, our thrashing about trying to fix ourselves while hiding our pettiness and wallowing in guilt are nauseating to God and are a flat denial of the gospel of grace.
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Hope knows that if great trials are avoided great deeds remain undone and the possibility of growth into greatness of soul is aborted.
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God is a kooky God who can scarcely bear to be without us.
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Nevertheless, the central affirmation of the Reformation stands: through no merit of ours, but by his mercy, WE HAVE BEEN RESTORED to a right relationship with God through the life, death, and resurrection of his beloved Son. This is the Good News, the gospel of Grace
Brennan Manning
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There is an extraordinary power in storytelling that stirs the imagination and makes an indelible impression on the mind.
Brennan Manning
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A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God.
Brennan Manning
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Jesus was victorious not because he never flinched, talked back, or questioned, but having flinched, talked back, and questioned, he remained faithful.
Brennan Manning
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The love of Christ embraces all without exception. Fire of love, crazy over what You have made. Oh, divine Madman. (Prayer of Catherine Siena) Simply do the next thing in love. I have no sense of myself apart from you. Quia amasti me, fecisti me amabilem. (In loving me, you made me lovable.)
Brennan Manning
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Our identity rests in God's relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.
Brennan Manning
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To be alive is to be broken to be broken is to stand in need of grace.
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There is the you that people see and then there is the rest of you. Take some time and craft a picture of the rest of you. This could be a drawing, in words, even a song. Just remember that the chances are good it will be full of paradox and contradictions.
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We are not cowed into timidity by death and life. Were we forced to rely on our own shabby resources we would be pitiful people in deed. But the awareness of Christ's present risenness persuades us that we are buoyed up and carried on by a life greater than our own.
Brennan Manning
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Rome is burning, Jesus says. Drop your fiddle, change your life and come to Me. Let go of the good days that never were - a regimented church you never attended, traditional virtues you never practiced, legalistic obedience you never honored, and a sterile orthodoxy you never accepted. The old era is done. The decisive inbreak of God has happened.
Brennan Manning