St Melito

Dear Mel,

Your recent postcard made me think of today’s saint, St Melito, bishop of Sardis (not Sardis, Ohio, mind you, but Sardis, Germany).  We barely know anything at all about the poor fellow. He died around 180 (we don’t know how), so I guess we can assume that he lived back then as well.  Supposedly he wrote a lot of wonderful works on the faith, but none have survived the long excursion through time. We only know one thing for sure about him: he wrote an explanation of Christianity and sent it to the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (the same fellow who dies at the beginning of “The Gladiator”).  That’s why your postcard card reminded me of him. A lot of people spend Spring Break at the beach (lovely choice of photograph on the postcard, by the way – the dark gold of the sand and the bright gold of the sunset contrast powerfully with the deep blue of the ocean; I commend your taste), but very few spend it EVANGELIZING at the beach.  Just as St Melito’s attempt to convert the Emperor seems a bit naïve, so might your attempt to bring Christ’s light into the darkened, hung-over heads of your peers. But we still remember St Melito for his bold and courageous faith, and God will certainly not forget you for yours. Ciao. Uncle Eddy.