St Thomas More
Today the Church celebrates the life and martyrdom of St. Thomas More. He spent a year in the dreaded tower of London before being beheaded by his friend King Henry the 8th. His crime? He did not support the King of England as being sovereign over the Catholic Church in England and would not support his illicit marriage to his mistress Ann Boleyn.
The end result of King Henry's action was the traumatic schism we now see as the Anglican Communion. Did King Henry leave the Catholic Church because of doctrinal issues? Did he think Catholic theology was a bunch of man- made up religion? The answer is No to all these. Earlier in his life he won accolades from Rome and received the Church's highest honor for defending the Catholic faith writing a treatise against the doctrines of the reformation. (some believe it was ghost written by his chancellor, Thomas More)
The schism resulted from King Henry's moral issues, not theology. The persecution of Catholics that followed this created many British martyrs for the faith and some anti-Catholic laws are still "on the books" in England. (A Catholic cannot hold public office such as the prime minister)
St Thomas More, pray for us that we will be willing to stand for truth in a world that continues
to choose the path of least resistance and creates its own "morality and justice."
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 7:37 AM
2 Comments:
What a lovely post on St. Thomas. I first came upon your blog when searching for people's thoughts who attended the Shower of Roses at the Carmelite Monestary this past Sunday, 10/3/10. I have been enjoying reading your other blog entries as well. I am devoted to St. Thomas More as he is one of my dearest friends and has been such a help to me through the years. I had to comment on your beautiful entry honoring him.
Thanks Tara. I think of the integrity this saint had and pray for just a tincture of it in my own life. Our lives would be missing so much without the saints that Christ and his Church has graced us with.
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