9 July 08
Posted by gmashburn on July 9, 2008
WEDNESDAY AFTER TRINITY VII
9 JULY 08
LECTIONARY READINGS
Morning Prayer: Psalm 80; 1 Samuel 9:11-21; Luke 13:22-end
Evening Prayer: Psalm 81; Daniel 4:28-end; Acts 23:25-24:9
REFLECTION
Once again, today, St. Luke records a very strong message from our Lord regarding our discipleship. There are many who seem to be following the Lord, who say they are, and who may even seem to show signs of such a life on the exterior. Yet, in truth, their hearts are far from the Lord. They have chosen not to travel along the narrow path and through the straight gate into the Kingdom of God.
So, what kind of disciple are we? Do we wear one mask on Sunday to impress everyone around us with our superficial spirituality while wearing a completely different mask at all other times that resembles more the life of the world around us? Or are we fully integrated, restored, and healed children of God, truly faithful and committed followers of our Lord Jesus Christ, striving to live the authentic apostolic and catholic faith He established?
Fr. Greg
COLLECT FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY
Lord of all power and might, who art the author and giver of all good things; Graft in our hearts the love of thy Name, increase in us true religion, nourish us with all goodness, and of thy great mercy keep us in the same, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
SAINT OF THE DAY
St John Fisher, Bishop and Martyr (1469-1535)
John Fisher is usually associated with Erasmus, Thomas More and other Renaissance humanists. His life, therefore, did not have the external simplicity found in the lives of some saints. Rather, he was a man of learning, associated with the intellectuals and political leaders of his day. He was interested in the contemporary culture and eventually became chancellor at Cambridge. He had been made a bishop at 35, and one of his interests was raising the standard of preaching in England. Fisher himself was an accomplished preacher and writer. His sermons on the penitential psalms were reprinted seven times before his death. With the coming of Lutheranism, he was drawn into controversy. His eight books against heresy gave him a leading position among European theologians.
In 1521 he was asked to study the problem of Henry VIII’s marriage. He incurred Henry’s anger by defending the validity of the king’s marriage with Catherine and later by rejecting Henry’s claim to be the supreme head of the Church of England.
In an attempt to be rid of him, Henry first had him accused of not reporting all the “revelations” of the nun of Kent, Elizabeth Barton. John was summoned, in feeble health, to take the oath to the new Act of Succession. He and Thomas More refused because the Act presumed the legality of Henry’s divorce and his claim to be head of the English Church. They were sent to the Tower of London, where Fisher remained 14 months without trial. They were finally sentenced to life imprisonment and loss of goods.
When the two were called to further interrogations, they remained silent. Fisher was tricked, on the supposition he was speaking privately as a priest, and declared again that the king was not supreme head. The king, further angered that the pope had made John Fisher a cardinal, had him brought to trial on the charge of high treason. He was condemned and executed, his body left to lie all day on the scaffold and his head hung on London Bridge. More was executed two weeks later.
***from www.americancatholic.org***
St. Thomas More, Martyr (1478-1535)
His belief that no lay ruler has jurisdiction over the Church of Christ cost Thomas More his life.
Beheaded on Tower Hill, London, July 6, 1535, he steadfastly refused to approve Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage and establishment of the Church of England.
Described as “a man for all seasons,” More was a literary scholar, eminent lawyer, gentleman, father of four children and chancellor of England. An intensely spiritual man, he would not support the king’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon in order to marry Anne Boleyn. Nor would he acknowledge Henry as supreme head of the Church in England, breaking with Rome and denying the pope as head.
More was committed to the Tower of London to await trial for treason: not swearing to the Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy. Upon conviction, More declared he had all the councils of Christendom and not just the council of one realm to support him in the decision of his conscience.
THE COLLECT FOR STS. JOHN FISHER AND THOMAS MORE
O God, whoh didst raise up amongst the English people thy blessed Martyrs John and Thomas in defence of the Faith in witness to the dignity of Apostolic Authority : grant by their merits and prayers ; that in the profession of one Faith we may all be made on in Christ, and in him continue to be at one with one another. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
