From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   If I have not charity   
      
      "If I have not charity, I am become as sounding brass or a tinkling   
   cymbal." Charity means to care enough about other people to really   
   want to do something for them. A smile, a word of encouragement, a   
   word of love, goes winged on its way, simple though it may seem, while   
   the mighty words of an orator fall on deaf ears. Use up the odd   
   moments of your day in trying to do some little thing to cheer up   
   another person. Boredom comes from thinking too much about yourself.   
   Lk 21:20-28   
      
   =========   
   12 December – Saint Pope Callistus II   
   Also known as   
   Calixt II   
   Calixtus II   
   Guido of Burgundy   
      
   Memorial   
   12 December   
   1 February on some calendars   
      
   (c 1065-1124)   
   Bishop of Rome 1 February 1119-13 December 1124) Born in c1065   
   Quingey, France as Guy or Guido and died on 13 December 1124 in Rome,   
   Italy of natural causes.   
      
   Guy or Guido in Italian, as he was called before his elevation to the   
   Papacy, was the son of Count William of Burgundy and both by his   
   father’s and mother’s side, was closely connected with nearly all the   
   Royal Houses of Europe. He was the uncle of the Queen of France,   
   cousin of the King of England, related to the German Emperor. His   
   brother Hugh had been appointed Archbishop of Besançon and he himself   
   was named Archbishop of Vienne in 1088 and afterwards appointed   
   Cardinal and Papal Legate in France by Pope Paschal II.   
      
   When appointed Papal Legate in France by Pope Paschal II, Guido   
   strenuously opposed Paschal’s “Privilege,” extorted by Henry V, which   
   would have surrendered most of the political positions held by Church   
   officials in the Empire. After protesting the “Privilege” at the   
   Lateran Synod of 1112, he called and presided over a Synod of French   
   and Burgundian Bishops at Vienne, which denounced lay investiture of   
   the clergy as heretical and excommunicated Henry V as hostile to the   
   welfare of the Church. When Gelasius II, who succeeded Pascal, refused   
   to confirm the “Privilege,” the angry Henry V set up Archbishop   
   Burdinus of Braga as antipope Gregory VIII and installed him in Rome.   
   Gelasius was forced to spend his brief, harassed Pontificate in exile   
   and died at Cluny within a year. Some of the Cardinals who had come to   
   Cluny now elected Guido, who was crowned in Vienne on 1 February 1119.   
      
   Callistus took immediate steps to establish peace with the imperial   
   government, since both sides were tired of the long investiture   
   struggle. Henry V favourably received a Papal Embassy and temporarily   
   withdrew his support from Gregory VIII. A meeting between Pope and   
   Emperor was arranged.   
      
   After presiding over a Synod at Toulouse (1119), which was mainly   
   concerned with reform of the French Church, Callistus proceeded to   
   Reims, where he held a great Council (1119), attended by some 400   
   Prelates and by Louis VI of France. Negotiations with Henry V broke   
   down after he came to Mousson with a large army and Papal plans to   
   meet with the Emperor were abandoned. The Emperor was excommunicated   
   again (October 1119).   
      
   Callistus then went to Rome, where he was enthusiastically received by   
   the people, who had meanwhile driven out the antipope. He allied   
   himself with the Normans, who aided in the capture of antipope Gregory   
   VIII. Gregory, who had taken refuge at Sutri, was held prisoner and   
   subsequently other enemies of the Pope in Italy were overcome too.   
      
   Callistus then sent a new embassy to Henry V. A preliminary   
   understanding with a truce was arranged at Würzburg in 1121. The   
   following year, the famous Concordat of Worms (1122) was arrived at,   
   in a Synod held in that City. Because of the Pope’s patience and   
   perseverance, the Concordat was a reasonably satisfactory arrangement   
   for both sides, although a complete victory for neither, bringing   
   peace to both Empire and Church, to the great relief of Christendom.   
      
   The First Lateran Council (1123), convoked by Callistus, solemnly   
   confirmed the Concordat of Worms and issued Decrees against clerical   
   marriage and simony. It provided penalties against violators of the   
   Truce of God and against forgers of Ecclesiastical documents and   
   renewed Indulgences for crusading.   
      
   During his Pontificate, Callistus also secured from Henry I of   
   England, the acceptance of his candidate, Thurstan, for the   
   Archbishopric of York, transferred metropolitan rights in Spain from   
   the ancient See of Merida to the popular See of Santiago de Compostela   
   and settled the old French rivalry over metropolitan disagreements   
   between Aries and Vienne, in favour of the latter.   
      
   Callistus died in 1124 and after some dispute Honorius II was selected   
   as his successor. As to the great influence of the reign of Callistus   
   II on the policy of the Church, there can be no dispute. Owing mainly   
   to him, the concessions so weakly made by Pope Paschal II were   
   recalled and on his own accession to the Papal throne, his firmness   
   and strength of character secured a settlement of the controversy   
   between Church and State which, although not entirely satisfactory,   
   was at least sufficient to assure a much needed peace.   
      
   Through his exertions he put an end to the wholesale bestowal of   
   Ecclesiastical offices by laymen; he re-established the freedom of   
   canonical elections and secured recognition of the principle that   
   Ecclesiastical jurisdiction can come, only from the Church, while on   
   the other hand, he conceded to the secular authorities, the influence   
   to which they were rightly entitled, in the election of Prelates who   
   were at the same time the most powerful and richest subjects of the   
   State.   
      
   Callistus II was not very remarkable for his literary productions, yet   
   a few works have come down to us which are ascribed to his pen. They   
   are: “De Miraculis Sancti Jacobi Apostoli,” “De obitu et Vita   
   Sanctorum,”,”Vita Caroli Magni Imperatoris.” Many letters attributed   
   to him are preserved.   
      
   https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/12/   
      
      
   The Use and Abuse of the Sacraments   
      
   Have we kept these promises, which were made4 on our behalf and which   
   we repeated from time to time before the Altar as we grew older?   
   Every gift of God demands our gratitude and our co-operation.   
   It is our own grave loss, if we remain cold and indifferent, in spite   
   of the precious favours which we received from God.   
   God is infinitely good and merciful but, precisely because of this, He   
   demands generous co-operation on our part.   
   If we abuse His graces, He will leave us to our own devices.   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)