22 June 2018 – Friday of 11th week in ordinary time - St Thomas More and St John Fisher –the beginning of Religious Freedom Week - Matthew 6:19-23

    Today, we hear a Gospel that is particularly relevant to our modern world today.  Jesus warns us not to store up our treasure here on earth, where our treasure can be destroyed or lost, but rather to store up our treasures in heaven.  We can concentrate on our career and our own ambitions, which are important as a part of our lives here on earth, but in the process, those treasures of our faith can be lost.   

         Today, our Bishops ask us to start a special period of renewal, education, and consciousness in our faith, celebrating our religious freedoms.  The Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty with our US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a document on religious freedom back in April 2012.  They called religious freedom both in our country and in the other countries of the world "our first, most cherished liberty” which is also the title of this document.  Back in 2012, the US Bishops called for A Fortnight for Freedom, 14 days of prayer, education, and action in support of religious freedom, which they continued each year since.  This year, they have changed it to Religious Freedom Week, running from June 22 to June 29, starting with the memorial mass today for St Thomas More and St John Fisher.  More was a very spiritual and religious man, a lawyer and the chancellor of England under King Henry VIII.  More’s conscience and keen sense of morality kept him from approving of the king’s divorce from Queen Catherine of Aragon, of his remarriage to Anne Boleyn, and of the establishment of the Church of England.  More refused to personally break from his Catholic faith and from denying the pope as the head of the Church.  John Fisher, a Cardinal and Bishop of Rochester in England, also refused to recognize these same matters as Thomas Moore.  Both of them were beheaded in London in 1535. Both of these men were canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1935, 400 years after their deaths.

         As we recognize Religious Freedom Week, we remember how Jesus calls us to follow the laws of God, how these laws and commandments may be in conflict with what our governments demand of us here on earth.   As the Archbishop Lori of Baltimore so eloquently stated – this is not a liberal or conservative issue, this is not a Democratic or Republican issue, this is not to tell you how to vote for any specific elected official.  Rather, it is a call to action regarding the religious freedom that we have had in our country that is now under attack.  May the Lord lead us and guide us as we celebrate and honor our liberty and freedom to practice our faith.  And we ask for the intercessions of St John Fisher and St Thomas More to accompany us on our journey.