The true believers

It is easy to brush aside the sayings of Jesus. Many were attracted to
him because of His loving kindness and works of healing. But when he
claimed to be God and that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood
that drew the line between true believers and those whose faith was
thin. Let us pray, "Lord Jesus, you have the words of everlasting
life. Help us to cast aside doubt and fear and embrace your word."

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April 18th - St. Galdinus

Ever want to go out in a blaze of glory? Whether he wanted to is
unclear, but St. Galdinus certainly did.

This 12th century Italian saint was born in Milan into the Della
Scalla family. He later served as chancellor and archdeacon under two archbishops.

After the election of Alexander III as pope in 1159, a few dissident
cardinals decided to pick another pope, one favored by Frederick
Barbarossa, Holy Roman emperor from 1152 to 1190. Frederick was
already annoyed with the people of Milan because they claimed they had
the power to choose their own judges. When the people of Milan also
accepted Alexander III as pope, Frederick became even more angry.

He forced Abp. Hubert and Galdinus, who was archdeacon, to flee the
city. The next year, Frederick encircled Milan with a large army,
blockading the city until the people surrendered. Next, Frederick
ordered what the people believed to be the remains of the Three Magi
removed from St. Eustorgius Church and taken to Cologne, where they
still remain.

Galdinus was elected a cardinal in 1165 and, the next year, elected
Archbishop of Milan, succeeding the deceased Abp. Hubert. As
archbishop, Galdinus devoted much of his energy to comforting and
encouraging the people of Milan by preaching and seeking out the poor
to help them. He also assisted the Lombard states in their effort to
rebuild Milan.

Galdinus also worked with the city's priests to restore discipline,
which had been shattered during the upheaval led by the emperor. At
first, he worked exclusively at restoring Milan, but gradually he
devoted more and more of his energy to combating Catharism, a
heretical offshoot of Manichaeism, a third century heresy originating
in Persia. Catharism was dualistic and held that matter is evil and
that Jesus was an angelic being who did not really undergo human birth
or death.

The heresy was particularly common in Lombardy and began to spread to
Milan when the Lombards helped rebuild Milan. Galdinus preached
against Catharism for many years.  Finally, one day, the already
weakened Galdinus, too ill to celebrate Mass, took to the pulpit to
deliver another impassioned denunciation of Catharism. Just after he
finished the homily, and before he could leave the pulpit, he lost consciousness. He died as the Mass ended.

(Sources: Butler's Lives of the Saints, Catholic Almanac,
Catholic-forum.com, Catholic Online, Dictionary of Saints,
Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary, www.fiu.edu, www.op.org and www.stpatrickdc.org.)


Saint Quote:
Love is sufficient of itself; it gives pleasure by itself and because
of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no
cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in the
practice. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul,
love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator
and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For
when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return. The sole
purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who
love him are made happy by their love of him.
--from a sermon by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

Bible Quote:
Christ has suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you may
follow in His steps.  (1 Pet. 2:21)


<><><><>
Psalm  (49)
The uselessness of riches

All peoples, listen --
 all who live in the world, hear what I have to say:
humble and great together,
 rich and poor alike!

My mouth will speak wisdom,
 my inmost thoughts will bring good counsel.
I will turn my ears to a mystery,
 I will expound a riddle on the lyre.

Why should I be fearful in times of trouble,
 when the crimes of usurpers hem me in?
They trust in their own strength
 and glory in their great riches.

But, after all, man cannot redeem himself,
 he cannot ransom himself before God.
The price of his soul's redemption is too great, he cannot pay it -
 the price of eternal death avoided.
He will see that even the wise die;
 the foolish and the stupid too will perish,
 and their riches will pass to others.

Their tombs will be homes to them for ever,
 their dwelling-place for all generations,
 even if the lands they owned are named after them.
Though he be full of honour, man will not endure:
 he is like the beasts of burden, that die;
 he is like the beasts that perish.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit,
 as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
 world without end.
Amen.

Those who trust in themselves - this is the road they take.
This is the end of those who boast.
Like sheep they go down into the underworld,
and death is their shepherd.
They will fall headlong into the grave:
their faces will be eaten away,
and the underworld will be their dwelling-place.

But God will ransom my life;
 truly he will lift me from the grasp of the underworld.
Do not fear, when a man becomes rich
and the glory of his house increases.
When he dies, he will not take it with him,
his glory will not follow him down to the grave.
Even if he calls himself blessed,
says "see how they praise me for my success",
still he will join his fathers,
cut off from light, for ever.

Though he be full of honour, yet he does not understand.
He is like the beasts of burden, that die;
he is like the beasts.

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