I never got around to blogging about yesterday’s saint, St. Thomas More. Sir Thomas More was a friend of Henry VIII in England back in the 1500s. He was also the chancellor of the kingdom. Yet he, like so many others at that time, was put to death by the king because they refused to support the king’s divorce and his separation from the Catholic Church. I remember my mom telling me about St. Thomas More when I was a child. He has become one of my patron saints.
The “Fortnight for Freedom” has been intitiated a couple of days ago. Catholics and other from various faiths are rallying to protect religious liberty in this country. It seems to me that we as Americans have allow so many of our liberties to be taken from us by our government in the past few decades. I think we have grown lazy in defending our freedoms at home, too complacent while fearful and allowed the government to erode these liberties for the sake of our security. Perhaps we should read a bit more history and see what happens to a people who walk down that road. We as Catholics certainly cannot stand by and let government on any level take away our religious liberty! Please get out there, go to Mass and pray, and involve yourselves in the many activities your parish and diocese are offering the next couple of weeks. Fr. Todd Mlsna, in his penultimate homily to the Cathedral parish in La Crosse yesterday morning, delivered a stirring homily about all of this. Fr. Todd is someone I have been assisting as deacon at 6:30 am Mass for several years. He is legally blind, a wonderful homilist, and will be taking up his new assignment in Eau Claire as chaplain at the Catholic hospital there.
I am off today to visit dear friends. Will take in a Civil War reenactment. It promises to be a splendid day. Hope your’s is also.
A diaconal blessing on all of you!
