December Drinking Companion
Through the inspiration of St. Thomas a Beckett, I decided to return to blogging during my offseason, where I have some more time to reflect and sort out of my words. As I sat in Mass today at St. Thomas a Beckett, I had a nice reflection on what real unity looks like, and how the world will try to convince us that violence and desecration are the paths to peace, when in reality they just polarize and divide us if the situation is left unreconciled.
I would like to begin with a brief reflection on St. Thomas a Beckett’s life. Around the 12th century he was named Archbishop of Canterbury, at that time one of the most pilgrimaged places in the world for several circumstances. St Beckett had a disagreement on authority with King Henry II at the time, which eventually led him to flee the country. At one point he was led to return to England, but still opposed Henry II’s authority on a matter that Thomas a Beckett felt ran counter to the Church and Her authority. At one point Henry wished death upon Thomas a Beckett, and sadly the men around Henry took those words seriously and acted upon it, killing St Thomas a Beckett in the Cathedral in a vicious manner.
After his death, Henry II humbled himself in penance of St. Thomas a Beckett, and the knights who murdered him, sought forgiveness from Pope Alexander III after excommunication for their behavior. The knights were sent to serve the Holy Land for 14 years. With this the Church moved forward in many respects and it would take nearly another 400 years for a similar event, with the beheading of St. Thomas More, and the “Reformation” if we can call it that, which sadly has yet to be fully reconciled. It’s divisions and “redefinition” teach us what happens if political divisions go unreconciled. I won’t bore you with the history of Catholics and Protestants fighting, because like all wars, nothing is truly ever solved with hostilities. Jesus taught this very well when He laid His life down on the Cross, rather than try to fight worldly political ideologies, whether it was a sensual seeking pagan Rome and it’s oppressive political power, or over zealous Pharisees that study the law so critically, that they over looked the presence of God in Jesus Christ among them, because they too sought a political messiah like the pagans, but instead of Caesar who was the god of the pagans, they wanted another Judas Maccabees that physically fought for liberation.
Jesus would show us none of this is the way. Instead He shows a humble humanity would be the key to overthrowing all of the corrupt powers of the world. From the innocent baby infant who was born under the threat of death by Herod however trusting in Divine protection, to the God/man who died on the Cross, creating the Universal Church (Catholic), Jesus shows us the way to true unity as a human family in God, through baptism and the Holy Family. May I reflect on these 2 thoughts for a moment.
First let’s talk about the Holy family which preceded baptism. Jesus, Mary and Joseph first and foremost reflect Gods love of the Trinity. While this was a unique circumstance, that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus, he reflects what it is to be a regular husband, that served God most faithfully, and even until this day is the most revered man in the Church, even above all popes, etc. Mary carries a similar but obviously greater reverence. She too was trusting in what would seem like a crazy thought from God. With full humility, never flashing their status in anyone’s face, they went about with their lives and God’s calling. There were many twists in the road, but they always focused on the HOPE God was calling them to share with the world, through their child Jesus, despite the worlds attempt to kill the Godchild initially and the Godman eventually.
This is the greatest conspiracy in society which ultimately divides us, who is God, and which religion (means tradition) truly teaches who He is. Is God a political ideology that we worship to the point it leads us to kill in any respect, desecrating a human life made in the image of God. Throughout history, I have yet to see any political point of view that doesn’t run in direct opposition of this. In addition the imposition of free will, which denies the reality that all human beings are created with a free will and manipulation of it, in direct contrast of our Creator, will only result in further division and destruction.
From my personal thoughts Germany was a great example of the lowest point of the “Reformation”. Political perversion crept into Germany, Hitler redefined many things like Martin Luther for his personal power, which included redefining the sacraments of the Church, baptizing people in the name of the Nazi party, instead of in the name of the Holy Trinity. From there he began designing a society in the image of Hitler, instead of the image of God. The evil only lasted so long, but all suffered in the wake of politics. Millions of Jews were killed, many often forget a million Catholics were also executed as well. Evil tried to snuff out the the people of God, but in the end evil did not prevail, however it did become more complicated. This is human history.
Rather than go down a rabbit hole, I want to come back to the continuous solution I have learned through St. John Paul II. Shortly after the end of the war, his homeland was sacrificed to the Soviet Union. They were further oppressed. However John Paul II understood, only Christ can unify and in unity He will conquer the divisions of evil. As he planted seeds of hope, along with sound teaching of who we are created to be in Jesus Christ the day came when a united Poland over threw communism, which was arrogant to think the people would vote to continue their system. However as one of the most Catholic countries in the world, with the power of God behind them, they peacefully ended the oppression. Sadly they still fight to keep their identity to this day with many modern challenges, but this is life, we must always be vigilant to the truth.
This brings me to close with the truth of baptism, that I thought about today in Mass at St. Thomas a Becket in Reston, Virginia. When you are baptized in the name of the Father, and of The Son and of the Holy Spirit, you are made one with God and His family. This was what Jesus sought to do in His time, reunite the 12 tribes of Israel which had been divided by the world’s ways for centuries. Just as an apple tree has new branches grafted on for new fruit, so too are you grafted into the body of God to bear His fruits in the world.
Too often we reject being this hope, and instead give into the death of the world, because of our separation from the Author of life. This is sadly the trouble of all religions that have chosen to redefine who Jesus is and what He did, including Christianity. As a practicing Catholic there’s a basic understanding I have. Just because I disagree with a politician in my community and/or country, I’m not going to leave, but I will patiently try to work with them for the greater good of my society, especially my home, I can’t run every time I have a problem. So goes with the Church, just because you disagree with something, doesn’t give you the right to leave, or start your own understanding, it’s just going to break the family apart, to the eventual point of unreconciled fighting. It definitely doesn’t give you the right to violence of any sort either, we must value all lives, from an innocent child, to a person on death row, everyone has a chance to be reconciled and redeemed and we have to make an attempt for this radical love.
In close I pray for one thing for us all. Rather than splitting hairs of who’s right, and who’s wrong which I have little interest in doing. As I am learning in my marriage, this achieves nothing but more fighting. I instead encourage us to open ourselves to God’s grace. He is the Creator and knower of all, and is able to illuminate our conscience. Through the study of history, I came to a very clear understanding of who Jesus Christ is through the Catholic Church He founded, however I was very obstinate to this previously. Pray that if there’s something you are missing, that God show it to you and in that same prayer, pray that those who oppose you would have their conscience illuminated that we may see the good of God in each other, rather than the divisive evil the world encourages of us.
Image of St. Thomas a Beckett above the coffee shop at St. Thomas a Beckett in Reston, Virginia.