St. Thomas Becket

Saint Thomas in the latter 12th century, was a civil and canon lawyer, serving King Henry II as both the chancellor, and later the Archbishop of Canterbury.  Thomas and Henry were in conflict over the rights and obligations of the Church, and the King's authority over Church matters.  For a while Thomas was exiled to France.  Shortly after his return to England, he was murdered in the sanctuary of Canterbury by loyalists to the King.

Within this past year we have been speaking quite a bit about religious liberty and freedom.  Now some will assume that this has to do with the abortion issue and nothing more.  The ramifications of recent Federal actions are much broader than this.  It assumes authority over the faith and moral life of the Church.  More so, it asks the faithful to be in conflict with their faith stance.  This is indeed a dangerous and slippery slope.

Our Constitution, and natural law, prohibits the government from creating a state religion.  Further, it guarantees the free exercise of one's religion.  Some may misunderstand this part of the Constitution as to mean we cannot have prayer in schools or put up crosses on public property.  The interference that is alluded to is that persons cannot be required to follow legislation which contradicts their fundamental moral stance.  This has been an ongoing problem for centuries, across the globe.

For catholics this scenario means that we need to have a firm and multifaceted understanding of what we believe and why.  I have often said that it is amusing at Baptism, when I ask the couple 'what they ask of God's Church,' and they respond that they merely want their baby blessed.  While catholics do not have to have the background of Augustine or Rahner, they should know that we teach and preach about the dignity of life, the preferential option for the poor, an understanding of the sacraments and the sacred scriptures.

The folks that we have heard about over these last few weeks have contemplated and reflected upon the wonders of God's mystery.  They participate in the 'Christmas Story' because they have an understanding of God and God-ness in the world today.  Failure to do this relegates to doing some ritual actions because they feel good.

Our faith is about a relationship with God and others.  Our faith and faithfulness calls us to respond to God's love through conversion and discipleship.  Hopefully we can stand with the Marys, Josephs, and Thomas Beckets of the world, and give our unconditional yes.