The English Martyrs

In today's first reading, the priests of the temple discover an old dusty book containing the forgotten law of the Lord.  When the king reads it, he is both overwhelmed by the magnificence of God's Word and frightened at the prospect that he has failed to lead the people in God's ways and will suffer his wrath.  He embarks on a campaign to bring the people to their knees before the Lord and return them to the path of fidelity and right living.  They forge a covenant with God - a pact to remain faithful to Him.


Saint Thomas More and Saint John Fisher, by virtue of their baptism, entered into a relationship with God and forged a bond of fidelity and love with Him.  The truths of God's law and their Catholic faith were so much a part of them that they could not imagine being unfaithful to the Lord.  John Fisher had not walked for weeks in his prison cell in the Tower of London but, on the day of his beheading, he mustered every last ounce of strength to walk to his execution with confidence and purpose.  He and Thomas surrendered their lives for Christ rather than violate their faith. 


Today, as we observe not only the increasing secularization of the world but also the uncertainty, confusion and equivocation within the Church herself, we must pray for the conviction of the martyrs John and Thomas to fill the heart of every Christian - layperson and clergyman - so that we can know what we believe and reject what threatens the integrity of our faith.


Pandering, excusing and watering down was not the way of the English martyrs and it will never be effective in achieving the salvation of souls.