12th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026 - St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More & Public Witness

 

Tomorrow, June 22, on the liturgical calendar is the feast day of two of my favorite saints, two English saints, the martyrs St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More.

You may be familiar with the story which brought these two holy men to their martyrdom. King Henry VIII desired to divorce his wife because she was not bearing him a son.  At the time Henry was a Catholic; in fact, Catholicism had flourished in England for over a thousand years. Henry had himself written theological texts defending Catholicism against the Protestant Errors of Martin Luther.

But, the desire for an heir, a male son, became an all-encompassing pursuit for the King. Wanting to marry another woman who might bear a son, the King asked the Pope for an annulment. But, after a thorough examination, the Pope decreed that marriage was valid, there were no grounds for an annulment.

The King didn’t like being told what he could and couldn’t do, so King Henry made a bold claim. He claimed that it was not the Pope, but himself who was the head of the Church in England, and then granted himself the annulment.

In order to substantiate his authority, the King then forced all of the bishops and all of the government to swear publicly that the King was the head of the Church in England.

Now, you’d think that this heretical, schismatic claim would be met with clear denunciation on the part of England’s bishops; but no. And even though, it is clear from Scripture and the uninterrupted teaching of the Church, that our Blessed Lord while he still walked the earth made St. Peter and his successors the head of the Church, all save one of the Bishops folded to political pressure, and spoke the words the king wished to hear. One lone bishop witnessed to the true faith with his life, that bishop was St. John Fisher, a truly courageous man.

Thomas More had been chancellor of the kingdom, the highest office in the land next to the throne. Thomas, in fact, was a very good friend of the King and a close confidant. As a high ranking official, he too was being pressured to acknowledge the king’s claim to have this authority to redefine Christianity. But Thomas was a man of true faith. He resigned his office and stood up to the king. For this, like the bishop John Fisher, Thomas More was imprisoned and eventually beheaded.

Bishop John Fisher and the statesman Thomas More were faithful even when numerous bishops, priests, and government officials pressured them to contradict their faith. In fact, Thomas had been pressured by members of his own family. They were Catholic, they knew the faith, they tried to convince Thomas just take the oath publicly, while keeping the true faith in your heart. But he said, no, what is an oath but words of the heart spoken publicly, words spoken to God.

These two holy martyrs exemplify the teaching of Our Lord in the Gospel today, “The words that I’ve spoken in private, speak in the light, those words that you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”

Our faith, what we have been taught in our catechetical formation, is to be lived out publicly in the world. The martyrs, St. John Fisher, St. Thomas More, and so many martyrs and saints show us this. Christianity is not just about believing a set of principles in here—in the private recesses of our minds and hearts. The teachings of Christ are to be lived out, proclaimed, and shared in the world.

 We live in a very strange age. In some parts of the world, Christians courageously die for the faith, and in many parts of our own diocese, many would rather die than practice it!

Now, many of us will not likely be in a position where we face public martyrdom, but for all of us, what we do publicly, how we act, how we treat people in public, these things matter. Someone once said, you can tell a lot about what is in a person’s heart by how they treat a waitress, a cashier, a salesperson. We are to reflect the goodness of God, and the love of God, in public, to strangers, to our spouses, to our parents, to our children.  How we act at a restaurant, at the supermarket, in the parking lot, these things matter.

Also, though, we must be faithful in those opportunities the Lord gives us to share our Catholic faith. A St. Clare parishioner once shared how a pair of Jehovah’s Witnesses once came to his door. He told them that he didn’t have time to talk with them, and that they aren’t going to convert him anyway, since he was solid in his Catholic Faith. I told him, of course they aren’t going to convert you, but your job is to convert them! That was an opportunity God was giving you to share your faith. He said, well, they gave me some reading material. And I said, that’s fine, but what did you give them? A Catechism, a holy card, a pamphlet on our Faith, anything? No, Father, I don’t have that, I didn’t have anything to give them, I just wanted to get back to my yardwork.

I know people who will not attend bible study or adult faith formation, they won’t volunteer at parish events or even pray the rosary on an airplane, because they don’t want to give off the impression that they are ”too religious”…” “one of those Catholics”.

Saints like John Fisher and Thomas More believed that there is nothing more valuable, nothing more important than our Catholic faith, and that’s our call as well. Why? Because without Catholic faith, our world falls into error, souls will live at a distance from God, without the divine assistance of sacramental grace, the knowledge of the love of God and closeness of God in their trials. We share the faith because we love, we would want the truth shared with us, if we were in error.

Now, some, when presented with the truth of the Christian faith might close their hearts, like Henry VIII, who died having beheaded God’s holy ones, not to mention a number of women who he counted as his wives.

But some, some will respond with faith, and they will be grateful because we helped them to know God. Each one of us here have benefited from someone loving us enough to share the Christian faith with us. May we do the same.

“What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops” for the glory of God and the salvation of souls.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2023 - Unless your righteousness surpasses...

 For the past two weeks we’ve been hearing from the Lord’s Great Sermon on the Mount from Matthew’s Gospel. Two weeks ago, we heard the beatitudes, which the catechism says, “express the vocation of every Christian”. Every Christian is called to pursue beatitude, to pursue holiness by putting on the mind and heart of Christ. The beatitudes are the standards by which every action of ours is to be measured. Does my use of money help me to obtain beatitude? Does the use of my time help me to obtain beatitude? Do my choices and habits and the way that I treat family members, strangers, and enemies, help me to obtain beatitude?

Then, last week we heard the Lord tells us that we must be the salt of the earth and light of the world. The influence of Christians in the world is to be detected like salt in food, like a light shining in the darkness. Our faith that Jesus Christ is Lord and God is to be detected by those we encounter—again in our families and in society. 

This week, the Lord gives further explanation of how his disciples are to live. In fact, he sets a very high standard indeed. “Unless our holiness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” So the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Christian conduct goes beyond merely keeping the natural law or the Ten Commandments. We are challenged us not just to be “good” but genuinely “holy”—transformed by God’s grace inside and outside.  I often meet people who say, “I don’t go to church, but I’m a good person.” Fine, be a good person, try with all your might to be a good person. But Christianity isn’t simply about being a good person. It’s about becoming holy—filled with the life of God. Being good isn’t enough to get into heaven. Good is not good enough. Do you believe that?

Let’s look at what the Lord teaches us about holiness.

First, he says, it’s not good enough simply to avoid murder. Of course, we need to avoid murdering each other. But that’s not enough for heaven. Christians seek conversion even from the sort of thoughts that set us down the path to unjust violence, and seek to love others with Christ like love. And we don’t love our neighbor as ourselves if all we do is not kill them. We avoid all envy, jealousy, and vengeance, rivalry. We turn away from hurting others with our tongues and machinations. If you detect an ounce of anger toward anyone, pray for the Lord to free you. If you can detect that you have failed to forgive anyone, pray that the Lord give you the grace to help you to forgive.

Secondly, the Lord says it’s not good enough for us to avoid adultery. Again, of course adultery must certainly be avoided. We must avoid all lust and any attitude or reasoning or habit that allows lust to take root in us, that views other humans as objects for our own gratification. Rather we seek the beatitude of purity of heart. And purity of heart is obtained through prayer, self-discipline, avoiding occasions of lust as best we can, and repentance for lust in the sacrament of confession.

Thirdly, the Lord gives married couples special instruction here: to not only avoid divorce but any selfish behaviors that could lead to someone wanting to divorce you.  Just because someone married you, does not give you the right to be selfish toward them. Rather married couples have the duty of helping your spouse grow in holiness by your own example of prayer, forgiveness, patience, and fidelity to the commands of God. And that’s true for each of us: whether a priest, married, single, monk or nun we must set good Christian example and help each other obtain heaven.

Lastly, the final standard the Lord mentions in this section of his sermon to his disciples is about truthfulness. It’s not good enough to simply tell the truth when you are under oath, or to be the sort of person that people only believe when you are under oath. 

Jesus, the Lord, who is the truth incarnate, wants his followers to be distinguished as people of truth, integrity, honor, and transparency. 

“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven” Christians seek not just to be good,  we seek to be righteous. Not self-righteous. 

The Pharisees got their name because they refused to eat and speak with sinners. We must not self-righteously distance ourselves from those who have different beliefs than us. In fact, we are to be seeking them out, to bring them to Christ. 

We are not to be self-righteous, but actually righteous…where the law and commandments and virtues and life of God transforms us from the inside out, where every obstacle to authentic Christ-like love is transformed into the charity.

This morning I had a couple of Jehovah’s Witnesses knock on the rectory door. I did not turn them away. Rather, I invited them in. I sat down with them. And to be honest, they scrutinized me, for almost an hour. They tried to poke holes in Catholic theology, for Jehovah’s Witnesses deny many truths of our faith, including the bodily resurrection of Jesus, that Jesus is true God and true man; they deny the Trinity. I did my best to answer their questions and perhaps reexamine their errors.

But, I shared with them that this parish is both committed to the truth, and also serving those who do not have the truth. We feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and teach the ignorant, no matter what they believe. The Good News isn’t just believed and professed. It is lived. I pray that Christ might convert their hearts, and recognize that each of us must do penance for their conversion. 

Providentially, in just 10 days, we begin the season of Lent. A time for us to do penance for ourselves and for others. In the next 10 days, please, take some real quality time to discern the type and level of prayer, fasting, and works of charity that God wants from you, for the sake of souls and to help you pursue the righteousness God wants for each you. For God didn’t make us to be mediocre and lukewarm, but on fire for pursuing his Holy Will for the glory of God and salvation of souls.