The Answer Stares Back At Us (Bede)

Series: Eastertide

April 11, 2018
Fr. Vaughn Treco

180411 - Homily - The Answer Stares Back At Us (Bede)

Episode Notes

Homily - The Answer Stares Back At Us (Bede)


Gold is tested in fire and chosen men In the furnace of humiliation.

~ Sirach 2

  • Bishop Stanislaus dared to join the company of John the Baptist a thousand years before him...
  • And that of Thomas a Becket across the channel in his day;
  • And, half a millennia later, Stanislaus would find the fellowship of Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher to be equally sweet!
  • These four true sons of Abraham and of the Church...
  • Would be counted among the politically imprudent of their day...because
  • Each of these holy men declared the truth of Jesus Christ and the supremacy of his moral teachings over the powerful rulers of their times!
  • And so, Saint Stanislaus — along with John the Baptist and good Bishop John of Rochester and the two Thomases — received the due reward of their fidelity:
    • Murder at the hands of earthly rulers, and
    • The Crown of Glory from the Lord of Life!

But today, we seek the approval of our friends and colleagues...

We curry the favor of wicked politicians...and worldly Churchmen...

and we cower, and our voice is silent, our fingers are immobilized by the thought of their Facebook comments ...Our imaginations stunned dumb by the threat of their Instagram memes... We are intimidated by their Tweets...

But, we go on offering our truncated praise to Stanislaus... Even as we wonder aloud, 

“Where are the martyrs?”

All the while, the answer stares back at us in the mirror!

  • Saint John the Baptist, pray for us!
  • Saint Thomas More, pray for us!
  • Saint John Fisher, pray for us!


  • Saint Stanislaus, Bishop and Martyr, pray for us!


  • Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on us!

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