Hello. I am George Martin, and I again welcome you to selected sermons of Monsignor Joseph Bernard McAllister, this being disc number eight of 12. As in disc number seven, I have chosen to comment on the first sermon of this CD because of an oft repeated theme of Monsignor McAllister for us as individuals, or as Pope John Paul the second frequently stated that we are irreplaceable human beings from and before God. Monsignor reminds us that the word community is an abstract term. In essence, it is nothing more than the collectivity of individuals, And as such, we are born and die as individuals, but most importantly, as Christians, we alone will be called to answer to God for our life here on earth.
This is not a particularly comforting thought as we reflect on our own lives. In this first sermon, Monsignor points to Saint Thomas More as an example of one who understood fully that he, and he alone, must stand before God as to his individual actions. Clearly, this was one person's ultimate surrender to the will of God. An atheist or an agnostic could make an argument that more, as a learned and devout Catholic, caused his own death and ruin to his whole family just because he was a learned and a devout Catholic. What a waste.
In essence, it was the knowledge and the faith and Church teaching that would put his life in danger. Having said that, I also assume that most of the clergy who acknowledged Henry the eighth's act of supremacy were also learned and devout. However, when the time came to sign or not to sign the act, knowledge of church teaching without sufficient conviction of faith and grace to accept the king's wrath turned out to be the test of a martyr. That the king would put his personal interest above the very authority that had honored him as defender of the faith in 1521 was found to be inconvenient. Recognizing that Western Europe's national powers and religion coexisted in a fragile state at that time, some historians may view the death of Thomas More, John Fisher, and a small group of Carthusian monks as simply the price of church state politics, whereas we view their heroism as the ultimate act of a committed Catholic to their faith.
A martyr, unlike all others being considered for sainthood in the church, does not have to be examined on the miracles performed during their lifetime. Their act of sacrifice is, of itself, sufficient worthiness for sainthood. While we will likely never be put to the test where earthly life is held in the balance, could we stand as more did for the higher purpose? Our tests will likely be in small and daily events, but they will be there nonetheless. May we have God's grace to meet the test.
And now we continue with the selected sermons of Monsignor Joseph Bernard McAllister.