Facing the Fiscal and Moral Cliff with Courage: We Need New Thomas More's for the Third Millennium

By Deacon Keith Fournier
11/28/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

We need men of courage who will stand with the Church - and stand for what is true and right - precisely because it is true and right.

The England of the sixteenth century was in the midst of a serious crisis of politics, culture and faith, much like the times in which we now live.Thomas More gives us an example to imitate. Thomas More knew the order of truth and applied a hierarchy of values in both his personal life and his public life. He lived as a faithful Catholic Christian, demonstrating a unity of life and moral coherence. He stayed faithful to the Truth.

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CHESAPEAKE, VA (Catholic Online) - Over the last couple of weeks I have heard from many disillusioned men. They have expressed a deep concern over the crisis we face as a Nation. I write this article partly in response. Most of what I say applies to men and women. However, I particularly address men.

We are days away from going over the so called "fiscal cliff" in the United States. However, few people are addressing the Moral Cliff which may make the economic maelstrom look mild in comparison. Marriage is under assault as Courts are used by cultural revolutionaries who seek to redefine the institution out of existence. The taking of innocent life in the first home of the womb continues unabated. Organizations such as Planned Parenthood which lead the war on the womb are now bragging over their new found clout in the political ruling class.

The Church's outreaches to the sick, the poor and the needy face the boot of a hostile federal government. The HHS regulations through which the Affordable Care Act will be enforced violate religious freedom. Catholic Christians know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ demands a response which goes beyond the walls of our Church buildings. We are our brother and sister's keeper. We do not reach out to people in need because they are Catholic; we reach out to people in need because we are Catholic. No HHS regulation will compel us to violate our deeply held religious beliefs.

No Presidential administration can compel us to stop caring for the poor, the sick and the needy. Clearly, the next few months are leading to an historic Church/State showdown in the United States of America. We need men of courage who will stand with the Church - and stand for what is true and right - precisely because it is true and right. We are living through a clash of worldviews and definitions of human freedom, human flourishing, human progress and what constitutes a truly just and human social order. These are not political matters which no longer matter because the National elections are over.

Politics is a part of culture and the culture is a critical component of the mission of the Church. The Church must be free to proclaim her message in word and deed - in every Nation and in every culture. She must continue the redemptive work of her Head, Jesus Christ. St Paul used his Roman citizenship to advance the preaching of the Gospel. We must use our American citizenship to do the same. We cannot abandon the call to be leaven in the loaf of human culture. There is no doubt that each of us will serve in a different role in this task, but none of us can retreat. We need men of courage. Yes, we also need women of courage. However, I am addressing men in this article.

On Oct 31, 2000, Blessed John Paul II, responded to petitions from the faithful across the world and issued an apostolic letter, Motu Propio, (on his own authority) proclaiming Thomas More the Patron of Statesmen and Politicians. The letter was addressed to "the Bishops of the Catholic Church and, in a particular way, to Catholic politicians and all lay members of the faithful called to participate in the political life of democratic societies."

Blessed John Paul II wrote "Precisely because of the witness which he bore, even at the price of his life, to the primacy of truth over power, Saint Thomas More is venerated as an imperishable example of moral integrity. And even outside the Church, particularly among those with responsibility for the destinies of peoples, he is acknowledged as a source of inspiration for a political system which has as its supreme goal the service of the human person.

"Whenever men or women heed the call of truth, their conscience then guides their actions reliably towards good. Precisely because of the witness which he bore, even at the price of his life, to the primacy of truth over power, Saint Thomas More is venerated as an imperishable example of moral integrity. And even outside the Church, particularly among those with responsibility for the destinies of peoples, he is acknowledged as a source of inspiration for a political system which has as its supreme goal, the service of the human person."

The England of the sixteenth century was in the midst of a serious crisis of politics, culture and faith, much like the times in which we now live. In 1534 all citizens who were of age were required to take an oath called "The Act of Succession". It acknowledged that King Henry VIII was married to Anne Boleyn, even though he was not. His desire to divorce Catherine was not sufficient to make that marriage null and his attempt to use his political power to change the objective truth was unsuccessful. So, the King used the power of his office to promulgate an unjust ...

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1 - 7 of 7 Comments

blacksheep09
5 months ago
I reflect in these dark times St. Pauls 2nd letter to St. Timothy Ch. 3 para 1- para 9; we are neck deep in goat dropings and need to secure the close targets, our families, our neighbors, and the people whom fill the pews. I still want to throw-up when I pass a vehicle in the parking lot boasting with a bumper sticker voting for evil, yet the owner is attending Gods worship services.
Bill Sr.
5 months ago
There should be a name for these people who claim to be Catholic and consistently vote for candidates who espouse the abolition of every moral value and precept held by the Church as essential to our faith. I am told there are also Christians of other denominations who fall into the same category of misguided or misinformed loyal subjects of big government.
How long will it take for us to admit Christian values had to be dismantled and our sacred trust in gospel truth had to be distorted if evil could ever enter our ranks disguised somehow as promoting tolerance, fairness, or social justice? This is exactly how it always happens.
In this case Progressive Liberalism posing as a benevolent arm of government took over the once proud party of the poor man turning the Democratic machine into the mouthpiece for the clever perversion of Christian charity. How else could we have ever come to the new normal where mothers are given the RIGHT to kill their babies?
Virginity and chastity are now considered weird scruples of the past and the sanctity of marriage is irrelevant with most couples living together until they feel comfortable with the arrangement. Parents today send their children off to government schools where they are indoctrinated into accepting the notion that what they are being taught may be contrary to what their mothers and fathers think or believe but they should be thankful because this is a new and enlightened age they are becoming a part of which offers freedom from the constraints of outdated moral concepts.
Christians who are either actually unaware of these facts or have chosen to ignore the obvious change in direction our nation are not followers of Christ, they are wanderers in the wilderness of worldly confusion and delusion purposely constructed for them by the prince of darkness and his legions of elitists who have bought into the humanistic myth of a godless Utopia.
Maybe that is what we should call the lost or wandering Christians of today, Christians Looking for Utopia on Earth... less Christ or…….. CLUEless.
Staff
5 months ago
We had a Thomas More and we spat on him and mocked him every step of the way... And he was only humbly doing the will of Pope Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum - the Magna Carta for the working man - and the will of its reiteration in Pope Pius XI's Quadragesimo Anno! What to do for the fiscal cliff is all there! You can read more about it at the site of the most neglected American saint and most like Thomas More in America with over 40 million weekly listeners! Father Coughlin! Go now to www.FatherCoughlin.com
Emma
5 months ago
"We were warriors on the frontlines, standing unafraid
Now we're watchers on the sidelines
While our families slip away
Where are you, men of courage?
You were made for so much more!
Let the pounding of our hearts cry
We will serve the Lord!
We were made to be couraaaaaageous! ".....(Casting Crowns)

So, where are you men of courage? God bless you all!!
mike robertson
5 months ago
Catholic democrats, based on their voting record, must dislike More. He put God first. His first obedience was to God's laws. Getting another person's money at the hands of the government was not the most important thing. I assume I speak for many Catholics when I say I feel like More would feel if he had been around today. I still believe what my parents and Church taught me fifty years ago. But the world has fallen so far from obeying God, I no longer feel like I am in the majority-as I did feel half a century ago. I am made to feel like a bigot because I believe no one has the right to take innocent human life. The man Catholic democrats voted for advocates killing kids even after they survive the attempt to kill them in their mom's womb. I am called a phobe because I accept what God calls true marriage. Catholic democrats voted for one who says God is wrong on the subject. And I stand with God's Church as it fights against the Catholic democrats' candidate who is ordering the Church to abandon her adherence to God's laws under the guise of health care. Catholic democrats can continue to stand on the opposite side of the Church on these matters and remain loyal to the administration they supported. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
rafaelmarie
5 months ago
IT IS IMMORAL TO SPEND MORE THAN YOU HAVE.

IT IS IMMORAL TO BE A SLOTH AND HAVE GOVERNMENT SUPPORT YOU.

IT IS IMMORAL TO COMPLETELY IGNORE THE GREAT SOCIETAL SIN OF ABORTION, BECAUSE YOUR PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL PASSIONS ARE ANGRY AGAINST THE RICH, WHILE YOU IGNORE THE POVERTY OF YOUR SPIRIT IN IGNORING THE SILENT CRIES OF THE UNBORN!

MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR DECREPIT SOULS!
abey
5 months ago
Through the Apostasy of Henry VII, in the iniquity that was at work, commenced the taking up the Yoke of Freemasonry by the "crown" mixing it with its religion to apolitical church leading to the Biblical prophecy relating to 'Meggido" in all those wicked & false beliefs of Ancient Egypt nothing but to slavery, against which is the war, the Spiritual war of Christ.

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