From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   Appreciating God’s Grace (1)   
      
     WHY do you look for rest when you were born to work? Resign yourself   
   to patience rather than to comfort, to carrying your cross rather than   
   to enjoyment.  What man in the world, if he could always have them,   
   would not readily accept consolation and spiritual joy, benefits which   
   excel all earthly delights and pleasures of the body? The latter,   
   indeed, are either vain or base, while spiritual joys, born of virtue   
   and infused by God into pure minds, are alone truly pleasant and   
   noble.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Book 2, Chapter 10   
      
   ===============   
   May 15th - Saint Hallvard of Oslo   
   Also known as Hallvard Vebjørnsson, Hallvard of Lier, Halward   
      
   d. 1043   
      
   In Norway St. Hallvard (Halward) was formerly held in great honour,   
   and its capital, Oslo, is still under his patronage. His history is   
   shrouded in obscurity, but tradition has supplied us with an account   
   of his death. He is said to have been the son of one Vebjörn of   
   Husaby, and to have been engaged in trading with the various Baltic   
   islands. He was about to cross the Drammenfjord one day when he was   
   accosted by a woman, who besought him to receive her into his boat and   
   save her from her enemies. As she appeared to be in terrible distress   
   and was obviously with child, he acceded to her request. Before they   
   could start, three men came running down to the shore demanding the   
   surrender of the woman, whom they accused of theft. She denied the   
   charge, and Hallvard refused to deliver her over to their vengeance,   
   though he said he was willing to give them the value of what she was   
   accused of stealing. Thereupon one of the men drew his bow and shot   
   first one and then the other dead. After they had attached a heavy   
   stone to Hallvard's neck, they flung his body into the sea, but it   
   floated on the water; this drew attention to what had happened, and   
   the young man was revered as a martyr in defence of an innocent   
   person. St. Hallvard's relics were afterwards taken to Oslo where a   
   stone church was built to enshrine them early in the 12th century.   
      
   However slight and legendary the account may seem which is printed in   
   the Acta Sanctorum, May, vol. iii, and in Storm, Monumenta historica   
   Norvegiae, there can be no question that the church of St. Hallvard at   
   Oslo was held in great honour. See the Hacon Saga (Rolls Series), 288   
   and S. Undset, Saga of Saints (1934), pp. 149-162.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   In proportion as a soul is generous in the service of God, she   
   experiences the effects of her liberality, and becomes day by day a   
   more fit recipient of heavenly gifts and graces.   
   --St. Ignatius   
      
   Bible Quote:   
   "Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in   
   heart. Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, And give thanks at the   
   remembrance of His holy name." (Psalms 97:11-12)   
      
      
      
   <><><><>   
    The believer and the unbeliever   
      
       When I hear that Christ was crucified I am filled with amazement   
   at his love for us, but to the unbeliever this shows weakness. When I   
   hear that Christ became a servant I am astonished at his solicitude   
   for us, but to the unbeliever this is a disgrace. When I hear that   
   Christ died I marvel at his power, since he was not conquered by   
   death, but instead put an end to death. The unbeliever, however, sees   
   Christ's death as a sign of helplessness.   
      The unbeliever regards the resurrection as pure fiction, but I   
   accept the proven facts and venerate God's saving plan. In baptism the   
   unbeliever sees only water, but I perceive not only what meets the   
   eye, but also the purification of the soul by the Holy Spirit. The   
   unbeliever thinks only the body is cleansed, but I believe that the   
   soul also is made pure and holy, and I am reminded of the tomb, the   
   resurrection, our sanctification, justification, redemption, adoption,   
   and inheritance, of the kingdom of heaven and the gift of the Holy   
   Spirit. I judge outward appearances not by what I see but by the eyes   
   of the mind. When the body of Christ is mentioned, the words have one   
   meaning for me, another for the unbeliever.   
   --Excerpt from sermon of  John Chrysostom:   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)