From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   God is pleased to dwell in us   
      
   "God is not too grand to come, he is not too fussy or shy, he is not   
   too proud--on the contrary he is pleased to come if you do not   
   displease him. Listen to the promise he makes. Listen to him indeed   
   promising with pleasure, not threatening in displeasure, "We shall   
   come to him," he says, "I and the Father." To the one he had earlier   
   called his friend, the one who obeys his precepts, the keeper of his   
   commandment, the lover of God, the lover of his neighbor, he says, "We   
   shall come to him and make our abode with him."   
   --St. Augustine--(excerpt from Sermon 23,6)   
      
   ===========   
   June 6th – Saint Norbert of Xantan   
   (1080-1134)   
      
    Saint Norbert of Xantan was a worldly noble converted much like Saint   
   Paul, who became a zealous preacher and bishop. The life of Saint   
   Norbert reminds us that it is never too late to repent, turn our   
   broken selves to the Lord, and become whole in His ministry.   
      
   Norbert was born in Xantan (now Germany), and grew up in the royal   
   court of Emperor Henry V. Norbert took the robes of a secular monastic   
   order(refusing the priesthood, due to the restrictions it would place   
   on his lifestyle), serving as the court’s chief alms gatherer.   
   However, he embraced his position not out of obedience and love for   
   the Lord, but rather as a career move and occupation which allowed him   
   access to the emperor. He, like most of the court, was governed by the   
   principles of pleasure, and thought little of the implications of his   
   lifestyle on his soul.   
      
   One afternoon, when Norbert was approximately 35, he was out riding   
   across the countryside for sport when a powerful thunderstorm arose   
   without warning. A lightning bolt opened up the ground before him,   
   causing his horse to toss him to the ground, rendering him   
   unconscious. He lay in the heavy rain, on the ground, soiling his   
   fancy clothes and well-coifed hair for hours, neither the rain nor the   
   thunder reviving him. When he awoke, Norbert gazed at the stormy sky   
   and asked, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" (the same words Saint   
   Paul spoke on the road to Damascus.) In response to his question,   
   Norbert heard, "Turn from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it."   
      
   From that moment on, Norbert converted his life, and bore witness to   
   those around him of the power of the Lord. He returned home, and   
   committed himself to studying for the priesthood, a vocation he had   
   previously avoided. He spent his days in prayer, fasting, and   
   mortification--reparation for his lifetime of sinfulness. Labeled a   
   hypocrite by many, Norbert gave away all of his worldly possessions to   
   the poor, and for the remainder of his life, strove to own nothing. He   
   traveled to Rome, seeking an audience with the pope, begging   
   permission to preach.   
      
   The pope gladly commissioned Saint Norbert, who traveled throughout   
   Europe, preaching to all who would listen. On the day of his   
   ordination, Norbert said: "O Priest! You are not yourself because you   
   are God. You are not of yourself because you are the servant and   
   minister of Christ. You are not your own because you are the spouse of   
   the Church. You are not yourself because you are the mediator between   
   God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing. What   
   then are you? Nothing and everything. O Priest! Take care lest what   
   was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: 'He saved others,   
   himself he cannot save!'"   
      
   During his travels, Norbert--in penance for his sins--chose the most   
   difficult paths and roads to take, walking barefoot, even during the   
   harsh European winters. Those who traveled with him oftentimes died   
   from exposure to the elements, and while Norbert himself suffered, he   
   maintained his health. Over time, he regained the respect of those who   
   had labeled him hypocrite, and they, in turn, looked to him for   
   guidance, preaching, and reform.   
      
   During his travels, Saint Norbert preached a return to the truth of   
   the Gospel, which had been lost in some communities. For example, he   
   once said to the people of Antwerp, “Brothers, do not be surprised and   
   do not be afraid. Unwittingly you have pursued falsehood thinking it   
   to be the truth. If you had been taught the truth first you would have   
   been found effortlessly tending toward salvation, just as you now   
   effortlessly lean toward perdition.” Also wholly devoted to the Holy   
   Eucharist, Saint Norbert tirelessly defended the sanctity of the   
   Blessed Sacrament. He is credited for driving a heretic (Tanchelin)   
   from Antwerp who repeatedly renounced the reality of the priesthood   
   and blasphemed the Blessed Sacrament, removing it from the cathedral   
   and hiding it. Saint Norbert, led by the Holy Spirit, rescued the   
   monstrance, returning it unharmed to the cathedral, rekindling the   
   people’s love and adoration of the Eucharist.   
      
   Norbert had garnered a reputation for orthodoxy, strict adherence to   
   Church guidelines (not always the case at that time), and strict   
   observance of the Dominican Rule. His model and life attracted many   
   followers, and following a gift of land, Norbert began a small   
   monastic community. This Augustinian community, eventually known as   
   Norbertines (or Premonstratensians) grew to eight monasteries and two   
   convents, and the order eventually swept through Europe, bringing with   
   it a return to orthodoxy and reform.   
      
   From the Life of Saint Norbert: “Norbert established a clergy   
   dedicated to the ideals of the Gospel and the apostolic Church. They   
   were chaste and poor. They wore the clothing and the symbols of the   
   new man; that is to say, they wore “the religious habit and exhibited   
   the dignity proper to the priesthood.” Norbert asked them “to live   
   according to the norms of the Scriptures with Christ as their model.   
   The priests lived in community, where they continued the work of the   
   apostles. When Norbert was appointed as archbishop, he urged his   
   brothers to carry the faith to the lands of the Wends. Faith was the   
   outstanding virtue of Norbert’s life, as charity had been the hallmark   
   of Bernard of Clairvaux. Affable and charming, amiable to one and all,   
   he was at ease in the company of the humble and the great alike.   
   Finally, he was a most eloquent preacher; after long meditation he   
   would preach the word of God and with his fiery eloquence purged   
   vices, refined virtues and filled souls of good will with the warmth   
   of wisdom.”   
      
   Norbert was eventually selected as bishop (and later archbishop) of   
   Madgebourg. Legend tells us that upon arrival to his new bishop’s   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)