6th Day of Novena to St. Thomas More

June 19, 2008

Homily Preached by Fr. Shane Kirby for the Anglican Usage Mass

of the

St. Thomas More Society

celebrated at

St. Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic Church, 1013 Wood Street

Scranton, PA

 

 

            In many ways, St. Thomas More could be compared to Elijah the Prophet who is given such eloquent praise in tonight’s reading from the Book of Sirach.  Elijah, too, had his problems with an unjust king, Ahab of Israel.  He was sent by God to denounce Elijah’s idolatry and murder, theft and other acts which disgraced the position which God had given him.  At the same time, however, Elijah and St. Thomas More could not be more different.  Elijah, compelled by the word of God, boldly and constantly affronted all the evil that was at that time rampant in his country, among the people that God had claimed for His own.  St. Thomas, however, was a reluctant prophet, and avoided open confrontation with authority as much as he could in good faith.

 

            There were only two instances in which he opposed the King of England.  His opposition to Henry VIII’s separation of the Church of England from the Church of Rome was the first, and his divorce was the second.  The first was much less well-known.  As a Member of Parliament, when Henry VII levied taxes on the people which were unreasonable and brought the common man dangerously close to penury, Thomas More opposed it on the floor of the House of Commons to great success, and the levy was reduced by two-thirds.  Even as he did so, he never spoke disrespectfully of the king he believed God had chosen for his homeland, and on this occasion, he developed perhaps for the first time, his noteworthy idea that one could oppose a policy of the king without being disloyal or traitorous to the king.  He no doubt took that action because he understood the plight of fathers proving for their families.  As he had four children of his own and adopted a fifth, he knew that a man can only provide for his family if the conditions of the day allow him to do so honestly and with dignity.  Jesus taught us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and Thomas knew that this prayer can only be fulfilled when a just society exists wherein a man could provide for his family and fulfill the responsibilities of his state in life—that is of husband and father.  So he stood on that occasion as a “reluctant prophet” championing the cause of the working classes and the poor.

 

            The Lord Jesus, in teaching the Our Father, gave us an instruction not only on how to pray, but also how to live.  Each phrase presents a new way of serving God.  Take, for example, “Thy will be done.”  St. Thomas More, as you may already know, spent a considerable time discerning what the Lord’s will for his life was.  He devoted much time, energy and prayer discerning whether or not he was being called to the priesthood or religious life.  Feeling an intense draw toward the married life, Thomas feared that he would not persevere in a religious vocation, and so chose the married life.  This life is precisely where the Lord’s will lay, and immediately he became a success as a jurist and statesman.  This is not because he sought advancement in government of the King’s favor; but because he understood the value of work done well.  Whether a simple laborer or Chancellor of the Realm, the Christian layman is to do his best for the remuneration he receives, so that this remuneration, justly earned, can then be used for the betterment of family life.  Thomas saw this as the Lord’s will for all Christians.  Obedience to this will is how St. Thomas More provided a beautiful home at Chelsea, on the Thames, for his family, and saw to their education and placement in life.

 

            Another phrase of the Lord’s Prayer that St. Thomas More lived was “lead us not into temptation.”  Thomas More was, even as a layman, a man of exemplary prayer and penance.  Even in his days as Chancellor, he would often attend the Divine Office and daily Mass with the monks, and wore a hair shirt under his fine attire, to remind him—even as it itched—that our pleasure and comfort are not the principle goals of our life.  When the ultimate temptation came, as Henry VIII showed his displeasure more and more, Thomas More was no doubt greatly tempted to capitulate.  The saintly Lord Chancellor saw his property confiscated, the living that he had striven to acquire for his family, and his position all taken away, rather than give in to the voice of the world which said, “Sign the Oath of Supremacy, what does it matter, you can still believe what you believe in your heart.” Thomas More also knew that providing for his family meant not just their temporal welfare, but being an example for their eternal well-being.  If St. Thomas More had signed the oath, he would have sworn a lie, and given example to others to do the same.  Both he and St. John Fisher knew full well the value that their names would have carried, and they knew that they would be responsible before God for the example they would give in that moment.  They chose to be led by the Spirit of God rather than their own will, and thus they were lead safely through temptation to glory in the martyr’s crown.

 

            The title of the play and movie depicting the life of this great saint is truly apt. Thomas More was truly a Man for All Seasons.  His example is pertinent not only to the shaping of English Catholic history, but it is also pertinent to all nations and all eras.  In this election year, when we face the choice of our next president, we, like St. Thomas More, must heed the voice of our conscience, and not bend to the will of the world.  When the world says, “We need greater peace and better relations with other nations—that’s more important than moral values” we must say that a just society is one that first recognizes what is beyond the right of government to decide.  In St. Thomas’ day, the question was whether or not the government had a right to rule the Church and whether marriage was truly indissoluble or not.  Today, it is whether or not all human beings equally deserve to live or not; or whether government may redefine the family.  These questions are no less significant in our day than in the sixteenth century.  When we pray as the Lord taught us, “Thy Kingdom come”, we cannot expect that this will only happen at the end of time.  Instead, like, Thomas More, we need to work for a just and peaceful society that mirrors, however dimly, the Kingdom of God in our midst.  In short, we need to live by this great man’s words, from the scaffold, “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”