The words of Jesus from the gospel today: "do not store up for yourself treasures on Earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in to steal, But store up treasures in heaven..."
"Where your treasure is, there also will your heart be."
Where is your treasure?
Where is your heart?
Today in the life of the Church we recall the life and conviction of St. Thomas Moore and St. John Fisher, both of whom died, beheaded, because they refuse to given in to the torments of King Henry VIII.
They chose to remain loyal to their God and to their church rather than be seduced by the threats of the King.
Both took a stand to support the indissolubility of marriage as well as the authority of the Pope as the vicar of Christ. They refused to acknowledge the king as head of the church.
Neither compromised their own moral values in order to please the king.
The words of Thomas Moore ring true for us as we enter into the fortnight for freedom: on the scaffold preparing for death he spoke these words, "I die the King's good servant, and God's first."
Both St. John Fisher and St. Thomas Moore are examples of what it means to be true to oneself, to live a life of integrity of faith, and to refuse to take matters into their own hands.
They remained men of freedom for freedom as the sword fell and their hands were dispatched. In their death religious liberty stood victorious.
Here are a few words from St. Thomas Moore:
"You must not abandon the ship in a storm because you cannot control the winds... What you cannot turn to good, you must at least make as little bad as you can."
From his Utopia, 1516
"Nothing can come except what God wills. And I make me very sure that whatsoever that be, even if nothing has ever appeared so bad, it shall indeed be the best... I never intend, God being my good Lord, to pin my soul to another man's back, not even the best man that I know this day living; for I know not where he may hap to carry it."
To his daughter, in prison 1534
"What men call fame is, after all, but a very windy thing. A man thinks that many are praising him, and talking of him alone, and yet they spend but a very small part of the day thinking of him, being occupied with things of their own."
"I will not mistrust [God], though I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear... I trust he shall place his holy hand on me and in the stormy seas hold me up from drowning."
"If any man marvel that God made all His creatures such as they should always need aid of His grace, let him know that God did it out of His double goodness. First, to keep them from pride by causing them to perceive their feebleness, and to call upon Him; and secondly to do His creatures honor and comfort."
"Often, actually very often, God allows his greatest servants to make the most humiliating mistakes."
"A man buys hell here with so much pain, that he might have heaven with less than one-half. Occupy your minds with good thoughts, or the enemy will fill them with bad ones. Unoccupied, they cannot be."
"If I am distracted, Holy Communion helps me to become recollected. If opportunities are offered by each day to offend my God, I arm myself anew each day for the combat by the reception of the Eucharist. If I am in special need of light and prudence in order to discharge my burdensome duties, I draw nigh to my Saviour and seek counsel and light from him."
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