Sunday, June 22, 2008
St. Thomas More~Trial & Execution
Sir Thomas More, (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535)Renaissance English writer,Lawyer, Lord chancellor of England and Catholic martyr, in the Tudor court of King Henry VIII.
It is certain that he went to live near the London Charterhouse and often joined in the spiritual exercises of the monks there. He wore "a sharp shirt of hair next his skin, which he never left off wholly" (Cresacre More), and gave himself up to a life of prayer and penance. His mind wavered for some time between joining the Carthusians or the Observant Franciscans, both of which orders observed the religious life with extreme strictness and fervour(at that time). In the end, apparently with the approval of Colet, he abandoned the hope of becoming a priest or religious, his decision being due to a mistrust of his powers of perseverance.
Meanwhile More had made friends with one "Maister John Colte, a gentleman" of Newhall, Essex, whose oldest daughter, Jane, he married in 1505.
More married again very soon after his first wife's death, his choice being a widow, Alice Middleton. She was older than he by seven years.
In October, 1529, More succeeded Wolsey as Chancellor of England, a post never before held by a layman. In matters political, however, he is nowise succeeded to Wolsey's position, and his tenure of the chancellorship is chiefly memorable for his unparalleled success and fair charitable justice as a judge.
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These days, faithful Catholics lose elections; in Thomas More's day, they lost their lives.
Thomas More knew that. He knew that the lustful Henry VIII might kill him for his fidelity to the Church. . . . which is why More constantly asked, "How much evil can I tolerate? Where must I take my stand?"
Those were dangerous questions in a dangerous time, yet as a politician --- a Catholic politician --- fear never caused Thomas More to waver: "In a storm," he said, "you don't abandon ship just because you can’t control the wind."
Today, winds of a fierce new anti-Catholicism buffet us. Just last week, the most powerful political party in America declared the following: "The Democratic Party strongly and unequivocally supports a woman's right to choose a safe and legal abortion, regardless of ability to pay, and we oppose any and all efforts to weaken or undermine that right."
When that threatening clause was debated, did a new Thomas More risk his life by rising to denounce it? Did even one major Catholic Democrat risk the displeasure of his party by staying faithful to the Church? We all know the answer is no! This is not new; our fathers' generation also saw Catholic politicians repudiate the Faith they once held dear.
You know, Thomas More was a Catholic, not a partisan. With the ax that would kill him hovering near, his last words saluted the very politician who had condemned him to death: "I die the King's good servant, but God's first."
As politicians in both Parties embrace ever more positions that attack central teachings of our Church, can you stay silent . . . or even vote for them? And if you do, will you, at the end of the day, be able to face God and say, "I die my Party's good servant, but God's first"?
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