Saturday, June 22, 2013

St. Thomas More and Archbishop WIlliam Lori

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The very first time I heard Archbishop William Lori preach was during his mass of installation, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in Baltimore. I was very impressed with the first words he delivered as the leader of the Baltimore Church. Since then I've had a couple of opportunities to serve with him and I continue to be impressed by his preaching.



In this memorial of St Thomas More, a man who was martyred because he refused to yield to the demands of an unjust monarch, I think it is fitting to take a quick look at the highlights of Archbishop Lori's homily for last night's mass celebrating the beginning of the 2013 Fortnight For Freedom campaign. Once again Archbishop Lori was presiding and, once again he was not pulling any punches. Here are some highlights from his homily.


“Faith enriches public life not only by the magnitude of its services but by the qualities of mind and heart, by the values and virtues, it brings to the task,”


 “the Church does not have two wings: a ‘faith and worship’ division on the one hand, and a ‘service’ division on the other.... what we believe and how we worship gives rise to public service.”


“No wonder we shudder, no wonder we react so strongly, when governmental authority tries to slice and dice our Church by separating in law and policy our houses of worship from our charitable, healthcare and educational institutions on the score that the latter are somehow less religious than our churches.” 


“We continue to live in an age of martyrs – when believers, not just Christians, are being persecuted for professing and practicing their faith – when believers are tortured and killed because they are believers, in places like Iran, Iraq, China and Nigeria.”


“Let us keep the flame of faith and the flame of freedom burning brightly not only for our children and our children’s children, but also for the sake of these persecuted believers who see in our form of government and in our great land a beacon of hope.” 


I'm trying to get the complete text as I have only found excerpts, but judging from what I have seen, once again, Archbishop Lori delivered.

I'm very proud and happy to have such a courageous man as my bishop and spiritual leader.

St Thomas More pray for Archbishop Bishop and for all of us.

"Viva Cristo Rey!!"

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